எண்ணெய்க் கொள்ளையை எதிர்த்து............ Tuesday, 12 June 2007
US Tells Maliki to Pass Oil Law by July U.S. warns Iraq progress needs to be made - Military leader urges al-Maliki to take more initiative in countering foes
By MICHAEL R. GORDON New York Times
BAGHDAD — The top American military commander for the Middle East haswarned Iraq's prime minister in a closed-door conversation that the Iraqi government
needs to make tangible political progress by next month to counter the growing tide of opposition to the war in Congress.
In a Sunday afternoon discussion that mixed gentle coaxing with asober appraisal of politics in Baghdad and Washington, the commander,Adm. William Fallon, told
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki that theIraqi government should aim to complete a law on the division of oil proceeds by July. Iraq's Shiite dominated-government,
Fallon added in the meeting, has consolidated power and should have the confidence to reach out to its opponents. "You have the power," Fallon said. "You should
take the initiative."
Assurances from al-Maliki
The admiral's appeal, which was made in the presence of Ryan C.Crocker, the American ambassador to Iraq, a senior political adviser to the command, and this
reporter, elicited an assurance fromal-Maliki that he hoped to make some progress over the coming weeks. But he also offered a lengthy account of the tribulations
facing the Iraqi government, including tenuous security, distrustful neighboring Sunni states, and a complex legal agenda."There are lots of difficulties that are not well
-understood from outside," al-Maliki said. "Still, we're trying hard."
Fallon, who is in charge of the U.S. Central Command, used a whirlwindtrip to Iraq to reinforce Washington's public and private message that political progress was
lagging. This reporter, who is accompanyingFallon on his trip to Iraq, was allowed into the meeting. It was only at the end of the meeting that American officials
agreed that it could be on the record.
At times, the two sides appeared to be operating on two different clocks. While Fallon emphasized the urgency of demonstrating results,al-Maliki cast the political
process as a long journey from dictatorship to democracy. "The end result will be marked in history,"said al-Maliki. When President Bush decided in January to
increase American troop levels in Iraq, the purpose was not to win a military victory but to improve security so the Iraqi leaders could carry out a program of political
reconciliation.
But now that the troops are in place, the Iraqis have little to show by way of political progress.In some ways, this summer does not seem like an auspicious period for
a political breakthrough. Some al-Maliki aides fear that Sunni members of the government are conspiring against them with the support of Sunni Arab states.
Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, the leader of the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council,an important Shiite group, is being treated for lung cancer. Kurdish leaders seem preoccupied
by Turkish threats to intervene militarily in northern Iraq.
Iraqis are aware that the Bush administration promised to report to Congress in September what its new Iraq strategy has accomplished.Indeed, the Bush
administration is obliged by congressional legislation to issue an interim report in July on Iraq developments. In the meeting, Fallon focused on Iraq's oil law, assuming
it was closest to completion. "Is it reasonable to expect it to be completed in July?" he asked. "We have to show some progress in July for the upcoming report."
Oil revenue sharing
Al-Maliki said that the Kurds had raised concerns about revenue sharing arrangements, but he indicated some progress on the oil lawwould be made.
At one point, al-Maliki wondered aloud whether Congress would really give the Iraqis credit for tackling tough issues if they completed the oil law. Fallon reassured
him that most Americans wanted the Iraqi government to succeed. At another point, al-Maliki asserted that there was already good news to report. "The September
report should list the accomplishments.
There are lots of positive developments. Our spirit is not broken."Meanwhile, a report released Monday by U.N. Secretary General Ban KiMoon said that despite
the recent U.S. military buildup in Baghdad,insurgent and militia attacks persist and "civilian casualties continue to mount" in Iraq as a whole.The 15-page report,
which tracks events in Iraq over the past three months, said U.S.-led efforts to restore calm in Baghdad have progressed "slower than had been hoped for" and that
violence has spread to other parts of the country.
Tue, 18 Dec 2007 13:09:00
Corporate oil giants scramble to plunder Iraq’s energy reserves
By James Cogan (WSWS) -- When Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki finally sent the so-called “oil law” to be passed by the parliament in July, George Bush phoned to
congratulate him personally. Maliki’s failure to push the legislation through had been a source of growing frustration and anger in Washington for more than a year.
The law was needed to legitimise one of the main aims of the illegal US invasion of Iraq—to allow foreign corporations to assume control over the country’s state-
owned energy resources on the most lucrative of terms.
Bush’s congratulations—made on behalf of the major oil corporations and their share-holders—were premature however. The rival Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish factions
of the Iraqi ruling elite have still not agreed on the legislation due to their bitter and increasingly intractable differences over how to divide the revenues that would flow
to the Baghdad government. Five months after the law was sent for ratification, it is still tied up in debates within a parliamentary committee, with few indications as to
when, or in what form, it will to be passed.
Faced with US demands for the opening up of the oil industry, the Maliki government, with Washington’s support, has turned to a desperate ploy to circumvent the
parliamentary impasse. In a bizarre twist, US-based oil companies are being asked to invest in Iraq on contracts that legally rest on the pre-invasion laws of Saddam
Hussein’s Baathist regime. The Baghdad government is offering transnationals what oil minister Hussain al-Shahristrani described to UPI (United Press International)
earlier this month as “technical support contracts” over some of the country’s largest oilfields. These contracts involve corporations being paid to operate or manage
oilfields, rather than having long term control or a share in the profits.
By contrast, the stymied oil law, which was largely ghost written by US oil interests, would legalise production sharing agreements (PSAs), a one-sided contractual
arrangement that gives oilfield operators all revenues until they have paid their costs as well as a fixed ratio of all profits. Iraqi PSAs were expected to guarantee as
much as 20 percent of all profits to the operating companies for terms as long as 30 to 40 years, while formally leaving “ownership” of the oil and gas in the hands of
the “Iraqi people”.
Without PSAs, Steve Peacock, a representative of British Petroleum (BP), told Oil and Gas News Magazine last month that major companies would move into Iraq
“if the terms compensate for the skills, tools and experience that international oil companies bring to the table”. Peacock stated: “There are many forms of contract
that can find that sweet spot in the middle.”
The exact terms of the “technical support contracts” are not known. The extent of interest being expressed, however, suggests that the transnationals are being
offered a very sweet deal, combined with the longer-term promise of a lucrative PSA once the new legislation is enacted. As well, they have been given a promise of
industrial peace from the Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions, which had called strikes against the proposed oil law. The union has agreed to allow transnationals into the
oil industry under the support contracts.
The focus of contract offerings is southern Iraq, where between 60-70 percent of the country’s proven oil reserves are located. The area is firmly under the political
control of the Shiite parties that dominate Maliki government.
BP is seeking a contract for the major Rumailia field on the border of Basra and Kuwait, one of the country’s largest. Chevron and Total have done preparatory
work to take over operations of the Majnoon field near the Iraq-Iran border. UPI’s sources indicate that ConocoPhillips is seeking a contract for the West Qurna
field near Basra, which has reserves of some 14 billion barrels. ExxonMobil is looking at the Zubair field, also located near Basra.
Royal Dutch Shell and the Australian-South African corporation BHP-Billiton are seeking a contract in the Missan fields in Amara province. An Iraqi official told Oil
and Gas News Magazine that Shell would be paid to “help in providing new techniques to increase production as well as buying equipment for the field’s
redevelopment”.
The Bush administration and the Maliki government are both seeking to dramatically boost Iraqi oil production. Shahristrani, who is considered a political
representative of the leading Shiite cleric Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, outlined plans last month to increase oil production from 2.5 million barrels per day to at least three
million by the end of 2008, and to six million within a decade.
The major oil companies would be the primary beneficiaries but a rise in production would also boost the ability of the Iraqi government to contribute to the upkeep
of US occupation forces. As well, it would generate a substantial flow of wealth to the Shiite elite after decades of being marginalised by the former Baathist regime.
Controversially, companies are also seeking a role in the northern Kirkuk field, Iraq’s oldest and the subject of a bitter territorial conflict between the Baghdad
government and the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) which functions as an autonomous state in northern Iraq. According to UPI, Royal Dutch Shell has been
conducting technical studies of the Kirkuk field since 2005 and wants a contract. Production is currently as low as 200,000 barrels per day, compared with an
estimated potential output of a million barrels.
The KRG is demanding a referendum in Kirkuk province to decide if it will become part of the Kurdish region—which would give the KRG jurisdiction over the oil
fields. Fearful that the central government will sign deals for the Kirkuk field, the KRG has denounced Shahristrani’s offerings of contracts under the old Baathist laws
as illegitimate.
While denouncing Shahristrani’s offerings, however, the KRG is proceeding to sign its own contracts on the basis of a regional oil law passed unilaterally in August.
At least 20 PSAs have been entered into with international oil companies to develop untapped oil fields in the Kurdish north. The KRG’s aim is to attract more than
$10 billion in investment and push production in the north up to a million barrels per day over the next five years.
The US State Department has generally discouraged US-based firms entering into PSAs with the KRG. There are concerns throughout the Middle East that the
development of the northern Iraqi oil industry would enable the KRG to gain sufficient economic and political clout to begin openly calling for the formation of a
greater “Kurdistan” including Kurdish areas in Turkey, Syria and Iran. Turkey, in particular, has issued veiled threats it would militarily act to prevent Kirkuk oil
coming under the KRG’s sway.
Shahristrani, on the behalf the Iraqi government, has labelled the Kurdish contracts as “illegal”. As a consequence, the world’s major oil companies have been
reluctant to enter into arrangements with the KRG so as to not disrupt relations with the Maliki government and hinder their access to the southern oil fields.
The sordid wrangling between factions of the Iraqi elite underscores the fact that the various competing “oil laws” are to legitimise corporate profiteering on a vast
scale under a US-led occupation that is completely illegitimate and illegal.
By MICHAEL R. GORDON New York Times
BAGHDAD — The top American military commander for the Middle East haswarned Iraq's prime minister in a closed-door conversation that the Iraqi government
needs to make tangible political progress by next month to counter the growing tide of opposition to the war in Congress.
In a Sunday afternoon discussion that mixed gentle coaxing with asober appraisal of politics in Baghdad and Washington, the commander,Adm. William Fallon, told
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki that theIraqi government should aim to complete a law on the division of oil proceeds by July. Iraq's Shiite dominated-government,
Fallon added in the meeting, has consolidated power and should have the confidence to reach out to its opponents. "You have the power," Fallon said. "You should
take the initiative."
Assurances from al-MalikiThe admiral's appeal, which was made in the presence of Ryan C.Crocker, the American ambassador to Iraq, a senior political adviser to the command, and this
reporter, elicited an assurance fromal-Maliki that he hoped to make some progress over the coming weeks. But he also offered a lengthy account of the tribulations
facing the Iraqi government, including tenuous security, distrustful neighboring Sunni states, and a complex legal agenda."There are lots of difficulties that are not well
-understood from outside," al-Maliki said. "Still, we're trying hard."
Fallon, who is in charge of the U.S. Central Command, used a whirlwindtrip to Iraq to reinforce Washington's public and private message that political progress was
lagging. This reporter, who is accompanyingFallon on his trip to Iraq, was allowed into the meeting. It was only at the end of the meeting that American officials
agreed that it could be on the record.
At times, the two sides appeared to be operating on two different clocks. While Fallon emphasized the urgency of demonstrating results,al-Maliki cast the political
process as a long journey from dictatorship to democracy. "The end result will be marked in history,"said al-Maliki. When President Bush decided in January to
increase American troop levels in Iraq, the purpose was not to win a military victory but to improve security so the Iraqi leaders could carry out a program of political
reconciliation.
But now that the troops are in place, the Iraqis have little to show by way of political progress.In some ways, this summer does not seem like an auspicious period for
a political breakthrough. Some al-Maliki aides fear that Sunni members of the government are conspiring against them with the support of Sunni Arab states.
Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, the leader of the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council,an important Shiite group, is being treated for lung cancer. Kurdish leaders seem preoccupied
by Turkish threats to intervene militarily in northern Iraq.
Iraqis are aware that the Bush administration promised to report to Congress in September what its new Iraq strategy has accomplished.Indeed, the Bush
administration is obliged by congressional legislation to issue an interim report in July on Iraq developments. In the meeting, Fallon focused on Iraq's oil law, assuming
it was closest to completion. "Is it reasonable to expect it to be completed in July?" he asked. "We have to show some progress in July for the upcoming report."
Oil revenue sharing
Al-Maliki said that the Kurds had raised concerns about revenue sharing arrangements, but he indicated some progress on the oil lawwould be made.
At one point, al-Maliki wondered aloud whether Congress would really give the Iraqis credit for tackling tough issues if they completed the oil law. Fallon reassured
him that most Americans wanted the Iraqi government to succeed. At another point, al-Maliki asserted that there was already good news to report. "The September
report should list the accomplishments.
There are lots of positive developments. Our spirit is not broken."Meanwhile, a report released Monday by U.N. Secretary General Ban KiMoon said that despite
the recent U.S. military buildup in Baghdad,insurgent and militia attacks persist and "civilian casualties continue to mount" in Iraq as a whole.The 15-page report,
which tracks events in Iraq over the past three months, said U.S.-led efforts to restore calm in Baghdad have progressed "slower than had been hoped for" and that
violence has spread to other parts of the country.
Tue, 18 Dec 2007 13:09:00
Corporate oil giants scramble to plunder Iraq’s energy reservesBy James Cogan (WSWS) -- When Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki finally sent the so-called “oil law” to be passed by the parliament in July, George Bush phoned to
congratulate him personally. Maliki’s failure to push the legislation through had been a source of growing frustration and anger in Washington for more than a year.
The law was needed to legitimise one of the main aims of the illegal US invasion of Iraq—to allow foreign corporations to assume control over the country’s state-
owned energy resources on the most lucrative of terms.
Bush’s congratulations—made on behalf of the major oil corporations and their share-holders—were premature however. The rival Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish factions
of the Iraqi ruling elite have still not agreed on the legislation due to their bitter and increasingly intractable differences over how to divide the revenues that would flow
to the Baghdad government. Five months after the law was sent for ratification, it is still tied up in debates within a parliamentary committee, with few indications as to
when, or in what form, it will to be passed.
Faced with US demands for the opening up of the oil industry, the Maliki government, with Washington’s support, has turned to a desperate ploy to circumvent the
parliamentary impasse. In a bizarre twist, US-based oil companies are being asked to invest in Iraq on contracts that legally rest on the pre-invasion laws of Saddam
Hussein’s Baathist regime. The Baghdad government is offering transnationals what oil minister Hussain al-Shahristrani described to UPI (United Press International)
earlier this month as “technical support contracts” over some of the country’s largest oilfields. These contracts involve corporations being paid to operate or manage
oilfields, rather than having long term control or a share in the profits.
By contrast, the stymied oil law, which was largely ghost written by US oil interests, would legalise production sharing agreements (PSAs), a one-sided contractual
arrangement that gives oilfield operators all revenues until they have paid their costs as well as a fixed ratio of all profits. Iraqi PSAs were expected to guarantee as
much as 20 percent of all profits to the operating companies for terms as long as 30 to 40 years, while formally leaving “ownership” of the oil and gas in the hands of
the “Iraqi people”.
Without PSAs, Steve Peacock, a representative of British Petroleum (BP), told Oil and Gas News Magazine last month that major companies would move into Iraq
“if the terms compensate for the skills, tools and experience that international oil companies bring to the table”. Peacock stated: “There are many forms of contract
that can find that sweet spot in the middle.”
The exact terms of the “technical support contracts” are not known. The extent of interest being expressed, however, suggests that the transnationals are being
offered a very sweet deal, combined with the longer-term promise of a lucrative PSA once the new legislation is enacted. As well, they have been given a promise of
industrial peace from the Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions, which had called strikes against the proposed oil law. The union has agreed to allow transnationals into the
oil industry under the support contracts.
The focus of contract offerings is southern Iraq, where between 60-70 percent of the country’s proven oil reserves are located. The area is firmly under the political
control of the Shiite parties that dominate Maliki government.
BP is seeking a contract for the major Rumailia field on the border of Basra and Kuwait, one of the country’s largest. Chevron and Total have done preparatory
work to take over operations of the Majnoon field near the Iraq-Iran border. UPI’s sources indicate that ConocoPhillips is seeking a contract for the West Qurna
field near Basra, which has reserves of some 14 billion barrels. ExxonMobil is looking at the Zubair field, also located near Basra.
Royal Dutch Shell and the Australian-South African corporation BHP-Billiton are seeking a contract in the Missan fields in Amara province. An Iraqi official told Oil
and Gas News Magazine that Shell would be paid to “help in providing new techniques to increase production as well as buying equipment for the field’s
redevelopment”.
The Bush administration and the Maliki government are both seeking to dramatically boost Iraqi oil production. Shahristrani, who is considered a political
representative of the leading Shiite cleric Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, outlined plans last month to increase oil production from 2.5 million barrels per day to at least three
million by the end of 2008, and to six million within a decade.
The major oil companies would be the primary beneficiaries but a rise in production would also boost the ability of the Iraqi government to contribute to the upkeep
of US occupation forces. As well, it would generate a substantial flow of wealth to the Shiite elite after decades of being marginalised by the former Baathist regime.
Controversially, companies are also seeking a role in the northern Kirkuk field, Iraq’s oldest and the subject of a bitter territorial conflict between the Baghdad
government and the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) which functions as an autonomous state in northern Iraq. According to UPI, Royal Dutch Shell has been
conducting technical studies of the Kirkuk field since 2005 and wants a contract. Production is currently as low as 200,000 barrels per day, compared with an
estimated potential output of a million barrels.
The KRG is demanding a referendum in Kirkuk province to decide if it will become part of the Kurdish region—which would give the KRG jurisdiction over the oil
fields. Fearful that the central government will sign deals for the Kirkuk field, the KRG has denounced Shahristrani’s offerings of contracts under the old Baathist laws
as illegitimate.
While denouncing Shahristrani’s offerings, however, the KRG is proceeding to sign its own contracts on the basis of a regional oil law passed unilaterally in August.
At least 20 PSAs have been entered into with international oil companies to develop untapped oil fields in the Kurdish north. The KRG’s aim is to attract more than
$10 billion in investment and push production in the north up to a million barrels per day over the next five years.
The US State Department has generally discouraged US-based firms entering into PSAs with the KRG. There are concerns throughout the Middle East that the
development of the northern Iraqi oil industry would enable the KRG to gain sufficient economic and political clout to begin openly calling for the formation of a
greater “Kurdistan” including Kurdish areas in Turkey, Syria and Iran. Turkey, in particular, has issued veiled threats it would militarily act to prevent Kirkuk oil
coming under the KRG’s sway.
Shahristrani, on the behalf the Iraqi government, has labelled the Kurdish contracts as “illegal”. As a consequence, the world’s major oil companies have been
reluctant to enter into arrangements with the KRG so as to not disrupt relations with the Maliki government and hinder their access to the southern oil fields.
The sordid wrangling between factions of the Iraqi elite underscores the fact that the various competing “oil laws” are to legitimise corporate profiteering on a vast
scale under a US-led occupation that is completely illegitimate and illegal.
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