http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/iraqioil/ en-us Sun, 19 Oct 2008 14:20:19 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2109473/posts ...Chuck Schumer, along with Claire McCaskill and John Kerry, responded quickly with a letter to Condoleezza Rice asking her to prevent the deals from going forward until there is an oil-revenue sharing law. Both Schumer and Kerry are on the Senate Finance Committee; Kerry and McCaskill are both surrogates for Barack Obama, whose campaign has been going after John McCain for McCain's new, oil company-friendly position on offshore drilling. Here's the release along with the letter (which, weirdly, doesn't include McCaskill's name at the end of it). SCHUMER, KERRY & McCASKILL SEEK TO BLOCK BIG OIL’S NO-BID CONTRACTS IN IRAQ... The New York Observer http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2109473/posts#comment Sun, 19 Oct 2008 14:20:19 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2104689/posts Iraqi Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani laid out details Monday of the country's first- ever oil licensing round, and said the national government will have firm control over several oil fields that will be jointly developed with foreign companies. Shahristani said Iraqi state-run entities will have 51% control in projects to rehabilitate six oil fields already producing crude and two natural gas fields yet to be developed. Foreign companies will have 49% in projects and operate under fee-based service contracts. Dow Jones Newswire via Rig Zone http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2104689/posts#comment Mon, 13 Oct 2008 20:29:09 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2087235/posts Thanks to three Democrat American senators, China will be pumping Iraqi oil Read it and weep. No Oil for Blood by Frederick W. Kagan. We have been thoughly infiltrated and route. If Obama snatches the White House ........... it's over. Over at the Weekly Standard (hat tip ejo) One would have thought that leading Democratic senators who claim to be interested in finding other sources of funding to replace American dollars in Iraq, in helping Iraq spend its own money on its own people, and in lowering the price of gasoline for American citizens, would have been all for it.... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2087235/posts#comment Sun, 21 Sep 2008 20:16:19 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2084438/posts One would have thought that leading Democratic senators who claim to be interested in finding other sources of funding to replace American dollars in Iraq, in helping Iraq spend its own money on its own people, and in lowering the price of gasoline for American citizens, would have been all for it. Instead, Senators Chuck Schumer, John Kerry, and Claire McCaskill wrote a letter to Secretary of State Rice asking her "to persuade the GOI [Government of Iraq] to refrain from signing contracts with multinational oil companies until a hydrocarbon law is in effect in Iraq." The Bush administration wisely... weeklystandard.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2084438/posts#comment Wed, 17 Sep 2008 17:17:29 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2084186/posts Yesterday morning, I had the honor of testifying before the House Budget Committee on the situation in Iraq. The discussion was polite and civilized, and was a reminder that even now it is possible for people who disagree about what to do in Iraq to argue without raised voices and disagreeable language (apart from the Code Pink women, yelling for those who think that shouting opponents down is preferable to arguing with them). Congressman Brian Baird once again demonstrated that it is possible even for those who bitterly opposed the war to recognize the importance of doing the right thing... The Weekly Standard | Frontpagemagazine http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2084186/posts#comment Wed, 17 Sep 2008 12:31:51 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2080055/posts Iraq Cancels Six No-Bid Oil Deals United Press International 9/11/2008 URL: http://www.rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=66533 The Iraqi government said it has canceled six oil contracts with foreign companies that were awarded in June in a no-bid arrangement. One-year contracts with Shell, Chevron, Total, BP, ExxonMobil and others, meant to increase Iraqi oil production by a 500,000 barrels a day, were canceled after Democratic U.S. senators complained the deals could interfere with Iraqi efforts to pass an energy policy law and reach a revenue-sharing agreement among Kurds, Sunnis and Shiites, The New York Times reported Thursday. To go ahead with the no-bid contracts "would... RigZone http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2080055/posts#comment Thu, 11 Sep 2008 16:56:40 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2079898/posts Iraq oil contract for Chinese firm THE significance of the success of China’s state-owned CNPC in winning the first big oil contract awarded by the Iraqi government is not yet clear. Some analysts believe the $3 billion 20-year deal to develop and run the Ahdab field in Wasit province, 100 miles south of Baghdad, is a worrying marker for Western oil majors jockeying for position to win other contracts to develop Iraq’s oil and gas fields and neglected hydrocarbon infrastructure. Though the full details are not yet released, the Chinese appear to have accepted far tougher terms over the field... Arab News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2079898/posts#comment Thu, 11 Sep 2008 13:30:05 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2079883/posts An Iraqi plan to award six no-bid contracts to Western oil companies, which came under sharp criticism from several United States senators this summer, has been withdrawn, participants in the negotiations said on Wednesday. Iraq's oil minister, Hussain al-Shahristani, told reporters at an OPEC summit meeting in Vienna on Tuesday that talks with Exxon Mobil, Chevron, Shell, Total, BP and several smaller companies for one-year deals, which were announced in June and subsequently delayed, had dragged on for so long that the companies could not now fulfill the work within that time frame. The companies confirmed on Wednesday that the... International Herald Tribune http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2079883/posts#comment Thu, 11 Sep 2008 13:11:22 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2078135/posts The oil price is fair at current levels above $100 a barrel, Iraqi oil minister Hussein al-Shahristani said Tuesday. The Iraqi oil minister also mentioned that Iraq is now producing 2.5 million barrels a day and aims to increase that level to pump 2.7 million barrels a day by the end of this year, Shahristani said. OPEC, gathering for its third meeting of the year on Tuesday, is widely expected to hold output steady as it surveys oil prices that have fallen sharply over the past few months. Shahristani said the government has approved an agreement with Shell to jointly... Dow Jones Newswire via Rig Zone http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2078135/posts#comment Tue, 9 Sep 2008 15:28:23 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2078104/posts Anglo-Dutch energy giant Royal Dutch Shell has agreed a gas joint venture with Iraq worth up to $4 billion, the Iraqi oil ministry and the Financial Times said on Tuesday. The deal, which will see the gas extracted from Iraqi fields being both sold in Iraq and abroad, will be signed next month, ministry spokesman Assem Jihad told Agence France-Presse. Shell will become the first Western oil group to sign a deal with Baghdad since the U.S.-led invasion of 2003, with a venture the FT estimated to be worth about $4 billion. Iraq's cabinet has agreed to the contract, which... AFX via RigZone http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2078104/posts#comment Tue, 9 Sep 2008 14:45:39 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2077090/posts China has secured Baghdad's first post-Saddam Hussein oil deal by reviving a 1997 concession to exploit reserves on the al-Ahdab field south of the capital. The two countries are expected to formally sign an agreement later this month that will earn the state-controlled China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) a fixed price for every barrel it produces in Iraq. While China opposed the Iraq war and stood back from post-war rebuilding, Beijing has quietly outflanked its global rivals to grab a large slice of Iraq's oil industry. The pioneers of its overseas quest for fuel are already exploring vast tracts in... The Telegraph http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2077090/posts#comment Mon, 8 Sep 2008 04:44:24 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2076964/posts China has secured Baghdad's first post-Saddam Hussein oil deal by reviving a 1997 concession to exploit reserves on the al-Ahdab field south of the capital. The two countries are expected to formally sign an agreement later this month that will earn the state-controlled China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) a fixed price for every barrel it produces in Iraq. While China opposed the Iraq war and stood back from post-war rebuilding, Beijing has quietly outflanked its global rivals to grab a large slice of Iraq's oil industry. The pioneers of its overseas quest for fuel are already exploring vast tracts in... telegraph http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2076964/posts#comment Mon, 8 Sep 2008 00:25:35 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2073241/posts Iraq and China have agreed on the terms of a $3 billion oil service contract, the Iraqi oil minister said Wednesday, announcing his country's first major oil contract with a foreign company since the fall of Saddam Hussein. The oil minister, Hussain al- Shahristani, warned that time was running out for big Western oil companies, which have pressed for years for Iraqi contracts, to seal even short-term deals that had been expected to mark their return to Iraq, which has the world's third-largest oil reserves after Saudi Arabia and Iran. Iraq and the Chinese state-run oil company, CNPC, have agreed... Reuters http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2073241/posts#comment Tue, 2 Sep 2008 20:12:02 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2071193/posts " Iraq has signed its first major oil deal with a foreign company since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime, a spokesman for the Iraqi Oil Ministry said Saturday." "It was the first time in more than 35 years that Iraq has allowed foreign oil companies to do business inside its borders. The contract with the China National Petroleum Corporation could be worth up to $3 billion. It would allow the CNPC to develop an oil field in southern Iraq's Wasit province for about 20 years, said Oil Ministry spokesman Assim Jihad." CNN http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2071193/posts#comment Sat, 30 Aug 2008 14:26:48 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2065705/posts It is now widely accepted that the surge in American troops helped dramatically improve security in Iraq in the last year. But there has been less notice of, or comment on, how the surge has improved the Iraqi oil sector, which contributes more than two-thirds of the country's gross national product and almost 95 percent of the government's revenue, and remains pivotal to the country's development and stabilization. Oil production has risen about 25 percent in Iraq in the past year. It had been flat from 2005 through mid-2007, hovering around 2 million barrels per day before beginning to climb... weekly standard http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2065705/posts#comment Thu, 21 Aug 2008 20:12:48 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2059889/posts Iraq said on Friday it was resuming exploration of its immense oil reserves after a break of nearly 20 years because of crippling UN sanctions. "Today the Iraqi oil ministry celebrates a return to work by Iraqi oil exploration teams after 20 years of interruption," ministry spokesman Assim Jihad told AFP. Oil Minister Hussein Hussein al-Shahristani will attend a ceremony to mark the event at the Al-Garraf near Nasiriyah 350 kilometres (220 miles) south of Baghdad, Jihad said. He said the ministry would deploy three exploration teams trained abroad in the latest techniques. Iraq hopes the squads will uncover deposits... Rig Zone http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2059889/posts#comment Mon, 11 Aug 2008 13:42:04 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2059819/posts One day I will publish my entire collection of upside-down Iraq headlines, where the true purport of the story is the inverse of the intended one. (Top billing thus far would go to the greatest downer of them all: the tale of Iraq's unemployed gravediggers, their always-insecure standard of living newly imperiled by the falling murder rate. You don't believe me? Wait for the forthcoming anthology.) While you wait, you might consider last week's astonishing report about the Iraqi budget surplus and the way in which the report was reported. Largely attributable to the bonanza in oil prices, to new... Slate http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2059819/posts#comment Mon, 11 Aug 2008 11:41:10 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2059000/posts BAGHDAD (AFP) - Iraq said on Friday it was resuming exploration of its immense oil reserves after a break of nearly 20 years due to crippling UN sanctions, saying it hopes to double its proven deposits of crude. AFP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2059000/posts#comment Sat, 9 Aug 2008 12:58:13 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2058305/posts UM AL WAZZ — Western al-Anbar province was one of the most dangerous areas in Iraq in recent years, and Marine units operating there have encountered threats ranging from improvised explosive devices to small-arms firefights. Delta Company, 4th Light Armored Reconnaissance, 2nd LAR Bn., Regimental Combat Team 5, has come across a different threat, however: oil smuggling. “It’s been passed down from the regiment that there is a threat of insurgents utilizing oil smuggling to transport and fund their operations,” said Capt. Joseph C. Maher, Delta Co. commander. “These towns are like home ground for smuggling, and we’re here to... Multi-National Force - Iraq http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2058305/posts#comment Thu, 7 Aug 2008 23:34:23 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2053773/posts BAGHDAD -- A political turf war is threatening the stability of Iraq's biggest cash cow: the embattled but so-far dependable South Oil Co. After chasing gunmen off the streets of the southern oil city of Basra this year, Iraq's central government is trying to reassert control over South Oil, the state-owned oil company based there. In May, Baghdad said it was reassigning the company's top executive, Jabber el-Leaby, to an advisory position at the Oil Ministry -- a move many observers see as a demotion. Mr. Leaby is widely credited by U.S. officials and Iraqi oil technocrats with having led... WSJ http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2053773/posts#comment Wed, 30 Jul 2008 17:28:14 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050212/posts WASHINGTON, July 23, 2008 – Iraq’s fledgling navy is gaining prominence within its country’s security forces due to its role in protecting the nation’s oil infrastructure, a coalition advisor said July 22. British Royal Navy Capt. Paul Abraham, director of the Maritime Strategic Transition Team and senior advisor to the Iraqi navy, explained during a conference call with military bloggers that in addition to quickly expanding their naval force, Iraqi marines and sailors also are fast moving into a lead role in defending Iraq’s major ports and oil terminals from insurgent attack. “The Iraqi navy's aim is to be able... American Forces Press Service http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050212/posts#comment Wed, 23 Jul 2008 23:24:38 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2040944/posts Here's a thought experiment: Assume that Iraq's democratic government declared it was nationalizing its oil industry while excluding American companies from the country. How do you think U.S. politicians would react? With angry cries of "ingratitude" and "this is what Americans died for"? Of course they would, led no doubt by that critic for all reasons, Senator Chuck Schumer of New York. So it is passing strange that Mr. Schumer and other Senators are now assailing Iraq precisely because it is opening up to foreign oil companies, especially to U.S. majors like Exxon Mobil and Chevron. For some American pols,... Wall Street Journal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2040944/posts#comment Sat, 5 Jul 2008 02:37:32 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2040715/posts Independence Day and The Politics of Oil Matt Towery Oil and gasoline are on everybody's minds as Americans take to the roads for the July Fourth holiday weekend. John McCain has taken the subject head-on with his proposal to allow individual states to choose how and whether to increase oil and natural gas drilling off their coastlines. But first let's take a peek at Iraq. Its government recently awarded several major oil companies the rights to drill in Iraq. Accusations flew that the Bush administration played favorites with the American oil companies up for consideration to drill, but it was... Townhall.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2040715/posts#comment Fri, 4 Jul 2008 14:20:32 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2039942/posts Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) accused the State Department Wednesday of issuing “misleading” denials regarding its involvement in Hunt Oil’s controversial contract with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). Waxman, chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, also alleged that the results of his panel’s investigation raised serious questions as to the role the State Department played in the recently reported no-bid contracts between the Iraqi Ministry of Oil and prominent U.S. and multinational oil corporations. In a letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Waxman demanded that her office hand over all communications on the negotiation of the... The HIll http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2039942/posts#comment Wed, 2 Jul 2008 22:11:50 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2039770/posts We’re surprised that Sen. Chuck Schumer can keep straight which foreign countries he’s haranguing to pump more oil and which he’s haranguing to stop pumping more oil. A few weeks ago the New York senator and aspiring global Petroleum Czar was threatening to block arms sales to Saudi Arabia if it didn’t produce more oil. Now, he’s outraged that the Iraqi government may give modest no-bid service contracts to Western oil companies as a first step toward more fully exploiting the country’s vast oil reserves. Perhaps Sen. Schumer would approve if the Saudis were to agree to pump the Iraq... National Review http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2039770/posts#comment Wed, 2 Jul 2008 15:46:07 GMT