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The Reasons Behind Big Oil Declining Iraq's Riches

TIME -- Any notion that the invasion of Iraq was simply an oil grab took another hit on Tuesday when Baghdad opened the bidding on the rights to develop its massive energy reserves. In a day-long auction of eight huge oil fields — some of the world's biggest — virtually all the 41 foreign companies invited to bid by the Iraqi government balked at the Baghdad terms. The only contract signed was a 20-year deal for a consortium led by BP and China's National Petroleum Corporation to develop the giant Rumaila field in southern Iraq. "Frankly I did not think it would be such a fiasco and embarrassment for the government," says Rochdi Younsi, Director of Middle East and Africa for the Eurasia Group in Washington. "It shows the level of disconnect between the Ministry of Oil and the oil companies."



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Submitted Jul 04, 2009 By: JOHNNY95206
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REPLIES (newest first)
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jjjleblanc
Champion Author Rochester

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Message Posted: Jul 6, 2009 10:13:54 PM

Conspiracy theory in action.
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the1roadhog
Champion Author Atlanta

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Message Posted: Jul 5, 2009 7:06:00 AM

And what does the US receive for all the money and lives lost for this country? A seat at the bidding table? That's jacked up.
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MPGKing
All-Star Author New Jersey

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Message Posted: Jul 5, 2009 3:28:12 AM

It all boils down to greed.
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FlyNFool
Champion Author South Carolina

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Message Posted: Jul 5, 2009 12:45:04 AM

That's not very smart on the Iraqi's part.
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Pete12
Champion Author Albany

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Message Posted: Jul 4, 2009 11:32:42 PM

This should bring oil and gas down even further.
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baddog58
All-Star Author Texas

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Message Posted: Jul 4, 2009 11:08:31 PM

Apparently Iraq needs to restructure the terms they are asking.
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FuelBarge
Champion Author Long Island

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Message Posted: Jul 4, 2009 10:14:53 PM

I guess the joke is on us then. We paid hundreds of billions to preserve access to the oil and we get nuttin'.
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TXGasPriceSpy
Champion Author Fort Worth

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Message Posted: Jul 4, 2009 9:42:55 PM

How much will this action cost me at the gas pump? Something I'm sure.
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pigmanTX
Champion Author Houston

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Message Posted: Jul 4, 2009 9:35:04 PM

Of course the world revolves around oil. This website would not be here otherwise.
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PDQBlues
Champion Author San Diego

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Message Posted: Jul 4, 2009 9:30:25 PM

No one claimed that the invasion of Iraq was "simply" an oil grab. Oil was a major factor, as it was to greatly reward firms like Halibuton and the friends of the Bush administration. That, they did succeed, even at the expense of the American people.
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RochBear
Champion Author Minnesota

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Message Posted: Jul 4, 2009 9:29:21 PM

and if no one develops these oil fields, Iraq won't get any revenue from them. They are showing how greedy the greedy can be.
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bad_sailor
Champion Author London

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Message Posted: Jul 4, 2009 9:29:00 PM

The world does not revolve around oil.
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FuelRacer1132
All-Star Author Iowa

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Message Posted: Jul 4, 2009 9:28:28 PM

BlueVanGroup, nicely put.
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MUSTANGSRUS
Champion Author Ontario

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Message Posted: Jul 4, 2009 9:21:13 PM

And now what?
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jay4
Champion Author Colorado Springs

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Message Posted: Jul 4, 2009 9:10:14 PM

Another fine example...
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fizbos
Champion Author Maine

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Message Posted: Jul 4, 2009 9:03:09 PM

So Time Magazine says the Iraq war wasn't an oil grab? Funny, I didn't see any retractions or apologies to Bush.
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leeso1
Champion Author San Diego

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Message Posted: Jul 4, 2009 8:59:12 PM

...and on and on...
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RunnigOnEmpty
Sophomore Author Michigan

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Message Posted: Jul 4, 2009 8:57:52 PM

There is a glut of oil now, who would invest now?
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Focus2
Champion Author Illinois

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Message Posted: Jul 4, 2009 8:53:39 PM

I always thought China would be interested. Remember when they sought to buy oil fields in our Gulf?
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wt0826
Sophomore Author Ontario

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Message Posted: Jul 4, 2009 8:52:23 PM

Iraq is not free! It cannot make any decisions on its own. America owns Iraq now, why do we pretend that Iraq is a free nation that determines its own future?
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BlueVanGroup
Champion Author Colorado

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Message Posted: Jul 4, 2009 8:52:04 PM

acknot: "The Iraqis are a backward people who need a dictator to tell them what to do. They are to uncivilized to govern themselves and to ignorant to capitalize on their own resources."

It appears the current regime in Washington thinks that way about us Americans.
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BlueVanGroup
Champion Author Colorado

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Message Posted: Jul 4, 2009 8:49:03 PM

"But Oil Minister Hussein Shahristani demanded that oil companies lower their profit expectations, offering to pay them $2 for every barrel pumped in Iraq rather than the $4-a-barrel rate sought by oil executives."

Oil companies put up all the investment, take all the risk, and if everything goes well are only allowed a tiny fraction of the profit. (Perhaps the Iraqis studied at the Obama/Pelosi/Reid school of business?)
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BH24
Champion Author Arkansas

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Message Posted: Jul 4, 2009 8:47:25 PM

I shall anxiously await the liberal media's editorials admitting that they wewe wrong on the matter of "oil" being the real motive for Operation Freedom.
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BlackHorse
Champion Author Twin Cities

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Message Posted: Jul 4, 2009 8:39:13 PM

I wonder how much oil each GI can stuff in his duffelbag on the way home?
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milespergallon
Champion Author Illinois

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Message Posted: Jul 4, 2009 8:37:48 PM

Before WE leave that country WE should TAKE the repayment for OUR expenses!
I don't care what the reasons were that we were there but I do care about getting reapid for services rendered. They would not be able to be hold the auction if it weren't for a couple of countries like the United States of America!
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vj24
Champion Author Michigan

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Message Posted: Jul 4, 2009 8:37:42 PM

Too bad for them
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Bussman
Champion Author Dallas

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Message Posted: Jul 4, 2009 8:30:07 PM

Hopefully the free market will dictate pricing and terms of any contracts.
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acknot
Champion Author Seattle

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Message Posted: Jul 4, 2009 8:28:10 PM

The Iraqis are a backward people who need a dictator to tell them what to do. They are to uncivilized to govern themselves and to ignorant to capitalize on their own resources.
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fcdriver
Champion Author Tennessee

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Message Posted: Jul 4, 2009 8:15:11 PM

keep conserving
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CLM06
Champion Author Tampa

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Message Posted: Jul 4, 2009 8:14:49 PM

Hope they starve
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fcdriver
Champion Author Tennessee

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Message Posted: Jul 4, 2009 8:14:48 PM

keep conserving
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e3p0
Champion Author Columbus

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Message Posted: Jul 4, 2009 8:13:53 PM

I still think America should have the first options on all of it because of the steep price we have paid, both in terms of our troops and our money.
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Slyguy1060
Champion Author Michigan

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Message Posted: Jul 4, 2009 8:10:40 PM

Another example of the US screwing things up, we will never see a dime of the money we have invested in Iraq. I thought that Iraq was supposed to use the money from the sale of oil to pay us back, like that is ever going to happen.
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mplato
Champion Author Columbia

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Message Posted: Jul 4, 2009 8:07:56 PM

any money they get will probably be squandered and new palaces built with it
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john382
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Message Posted: Jul 4, 2009 6:17:04 PM

Nice to see that Chin got in on the ground floor.
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fightbigoil71
Champion Author Milwaukee

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Message Posted: Jul 4, 2009 6:09:07 PM

I believe we should have a say in how Iraq's oil is developed.
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misterray
Champion Author Oregon

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Message Posted: Jul 4, 2009 6:04:59 PM

We would have saved more billions if we hadn't destroyed their country (and getting more than 4,000 U.S. lives lost).

It's their oil, they should sell it to whomever they wish.
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JPGKC
Champion Author Tampa

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Message Posted: Jul 4, 2009 6:02:05 PM

Liberals will still make excuses for this one...
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FordF2502001
Champion Author Mississippi

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Message Posted: Jul 4, 2009 6:00:24 PM

obviously we could have saved billions if we had just went in for oil, wake up people
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CiVX
Champion Author Oakland

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Message Posted: Jul 4, 2009 5:54:10 PM

Just beacause it was a failure doesn't mean it was not the intent, as we saw with everything Bush/Chaney, and the Neo-Cons did.
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Cheepo
Champion Author Tampa

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Message Posted: Jul 4, 2009 5:52:44 PM

So much for the reason to go to war, big oil, ha, ha, ha!!!
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seville04
Champion Author Albuquerque

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Message Posted: Jul 4, 2009 5:48:32 PM

You are correct, Caddilac!
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pokey469
Champion Author Hamilton

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Message Posted: Jul 4, 2009 5:47:41 PM

I agree with "yoeric"
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CruisinLinda
Champion Author Tallahassee

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Message Posted: Jul 4, 2009 5:47:32 PM

This clearly doesn't mean Bush/Cheney did not plan to grab the oil. Many of the oil companies that balked were not solely American, and the Iraqi goverment's terms were too expensive.
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RobRD
Champion Author Alberta

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Message Posted: Jul 4, 2009 5:43:45 PM

There is going to be a compromise or this will blow up in Iraq's face and be a further blow to Bush's legacy as a president.
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PithyOpiner
Champion Author Stockton

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Message Posted: Jul 4, 2009 5:42:15 PM

You bet they will, Jaymac. That was just the first round of talks. One side asks for the ceiling and the other side jumps up and down saying it is way too high. Tomorrow they will come back and start to make deals. I'm not fooled by this. And, none of you should, either. It's just big- stakes poker.
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JayMac08
Champion Author Jackson

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Message Posted: Jul 4, 2009 5:39:10 PM

The Iraqis will change their tune to fit the world economy.
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caddilac
Champion Author Ontario

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Message Posted: Jul 4, 2009 5:36:13 PM

It was an oil grab, but it backfired on them when the Iraqis realized they could auction off the oil fields to the highest bidder.

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Bud122CA
Champion Author California

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Message Posted: Jul 4, 2009 5:28:51 PM

So Bush invaded just for the oil????
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rjoeh
Champion Author Michigan

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Message Posted: Jul 4, 2009 5:27:07 PM

An auction should not have the seller impose a ton of requirements on the bidders if they want to sell the commodity. As rookies in the world oil business after several years of being out of business... this reaction was no surprise to many, despite news reports.
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