Snappy newsletters. Simple Facebook sharing. Spirited comments. Sweet features are waiting… GET THEM NOW!

Iraq Needs Its No-Bid Oil Contracts

Deals aren't exploitative, argues energy adviser

By Kevin Spak, Newser Staff

Posted Jul 26, 2008 3:15 PM CDT

(Newser) – US lawmakers have been raging against no-bid deals struck by foreign oil companies in Iraq—but impeding them would be pure folly, energy consultant Raad Alkadiri argues in the Washington Post. Most of these companies have already advised Iraq on its oil fields for free;... Read full story »

COMMENTS

Read the comment policy

You need to Log in to Newser to comment. Don't have an account yet? Sign up now!

There are no comments

A snapshot of the day's best news stories.

View Larger Grid

All Today Yesterday Pick a Date

What's Popular Now on Facebook

Cops Shoot Naked Guy Eating Man's Face on Highway

Japanese Artist Serves Up Own Cooked Genitals

Washington Post (Source Grid »)

US probes oil contracts
Voice of America

Outlook cloudy as firms vie for oil
Iraq Oil Report

Iraq • energy • Congress • Iraq oil • oil companies • oil industry

More Newser Stories

Oil Giants Bend to Iraq's Terms

War for oil hasn't been too lucrative for American companies

(NEWSER) - If the Iraq war was fought for oil, it’s done little to enrich American oil companies, which are just now striking deals to service the country’s fields—and at far worse terms than they’d hoped. Most companies balked at Iraq’s initial service contract offers, refusing to bid in a June auction. But in the past month, many have swallowed their pride and inked nearly identical deals, the New York Times reports. More»

To Keep Eye on Its Oil, Iraq Buys US Drones

Unarmed drones will watch over Persian Gulf

(NEWSER) - Iraq is looking to America to help it monitor its oil interests—sort of. The country is buying unarmed surveillance drones from the US that will scour Iraq's Persian Gulf waters, which Iran has spoken of blockading in the past and which the majority of Iraq's oil exports flow through, USA Today reports. There's no word on how many drones it's buying, or at what cost. Iraq's oil production has jumped from 2.5 million barrels a day before the US invasion to 3 million today; it's aiming for 10 million within six years. More»

UK Consulted Big Oil Before Iraq Invasion

Memos reveal secret top-level talks with BP, Shell

(NEWSER) - Contrary to official denials, British oil firms were jockeying for a share of Iraq's oil wealth the year before Britain took a leading role in the 2003 invasion, newly released documents reveal. Government ministers held at least five top-level meetings with execs from BP and Shell in late 2002, and agreed to ensure that the firms would get a share of Iraq's massive oil and gas reserves in deals that were reportedly already being quietly hammered out with American, French, and Russian energy firms with the help of US officials, according to documents released under a Freedom of Information Act request and obtained by the Independent . More»

American Adviser to Kurds Outed as Oil Shareholder

Galbraith's policy push won him $100M

(NEWSER) - An influential American advocate for Iraqi Kurds, who helped successfully secure Kurdish control over new oil finds in northern Iraq in the country's constitution, stands to reap more than $100 million from the policy he shaped. Peter Galbraith, it turns out, received rights to an enormous oil stake in Kurdistan in 2004, after negotiating permission for a Norwegian oil company to drill there, the New York Times reports. More»

In Televised Auction of Oil Contracts, Iraq Plays Hardball

Oil ministry plays hardball on prices

(NEWSER) - The Iraqi oil industry has been nationalized since 1972, but today the country is awarding the first contracts in decades to private petroleum companies—live on television. So far a joint bid by British Petroleum and a Chinese firm has won the first contract, for a 17 billion-barrel field in Iraq's southeast. As the Wall Street Journal reports, oil companies were taken aback by the government's tough pricing: the BP consortium won by halving the fee it wanted to assess the oil ministry. More»

NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS

What is Newser?

Face it: there's too much news. At Newser, we choose the most thought-provoking and entertaining stories from hundreds of US and international sources and reduce them to a headline, picture, and two paragraphs. And we do it 24/7—you can come back morning, noon, night (and in between) for something new that matters. Read less, know more.

Learn more »

Partnering with: Slate

View Newser on the mobile website

Iraq Needs Its No-Bid Oil Contracts

Deals aren't exploitative, argues energy adviser

Iraq • energy • Congress • Iraq oil • oil companies • oil industry

MOST POPULAR STORIES

[ By Views ]

[ By Comments ]

More Newser Stories

Oil Giants Bend to Iraq's Terms

War for oil hasn't been too lucrative for American companies

To Keep Eye on Its Oil, Iraq Buys US Drones

Unarmed drones will watch over Persian Gulf

UK Consulted Big Oil Before Iraq Invasion

Memos reveal secret top-level talks with BP, Shell

American Adviser to Kurds Outed as Oil Shareholder

Galbraith's policy push won him $100M

In Televised Auction of Oil Contracts, Iraq Plays Hardball

Oil ministry plays hardball on prices

About Us

Site

Community

Site Maps

Tools

More News

What is Newser?