Friday, October 27, 2006
Theft of Iraq's oil now nearly complete
Three years into the occupation, after an evolving series of deft legal maneuvers and manipulative political appointments, the oil giants' takeover of Iraq's oil is nearly complete. Some details here.
A key provision in the new laws is a commitment to using production sharing agreements (PSAs), which will lock the government into a long-term commitment (up to 50 years) to sharing oil revenues, and restrict its right to introduce any new laws that might affect the companies' profitability. Chevron, ExxonMobil, Shell and ConocoPhillips seem to be the bigger players.
Since less than 20 of Iraq's 80 known oil fields have already been developed, if Iraq's government commits to signing the PSAs, it could cost the country up to nearly $200 billion in lost revenues.
A key provision in the new laws is a commitment to using production sharing agreements (PSAs), which will lock the government into a long-term commitment (up to 50 years) to sharing oil revenues, and restrict its right to introduce any new laws that might affect the companies' profitability. Chevron, ExxonMobil, Shell and ConocoPhillips seem to be the bigger players.
Since less than 20 of Iraq's 80 known oil fields have already been developed, if Iraq's government commits to signing the PSAs, it could cost the country up to nearly $200 billion in lost revenues.
# posted by uv : 6:31 AM
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]
