With American support, Iraq has canceled its contract with the Russian oil company Lukoil for development of the field
West Qurna in southern Iraq. The field has estimated reserves of 11-15 billion barrels! That is the equivalent of the worldwide proven oil reserves of Exxon Mobil which has a
market cap of 480 billion dollars.
The United States encourages the rule of law and regularly supports US companies when countries revoke contracts, so this seems to be somewhat of a double standard. If a US company ends up with the contract it will certainly look like the United States did invade Iraq for control of its oil. George Bush had assured President Putin before the invasion that America would not work to overturn Russia's Iraqi oil contracts. From
this article:
Quote:
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Those assurances have reportedly included suggestions not only that Russian oil contracts in Iraq will be safe, but also that a post-Saddam regime might actually be more able to address what is one of Russia's major concerns with respect to Iraq--assuring repayment of Baghdad's estimated US$7 billion Soviet-era debt to Moscow.
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In case you missed it, Alan Greenspan recently said in an interview that
the invasion of Iraq was for the oil.
The canceled contract was signed under Saddam Husein for only $10 million. Saddam was attempting to use Iraq's oil reserves to split the United Nation's Security Council by giving contracts to Russian and French oil companies since both Russia and France have veto powers on the security council. Saddam later canceled the contract with Lukoil in retaliation for Russia's support of a United Nation's security council action against Iraq. This cancellation by Saddam complicates the validity of the Lukoil contract according to the Iraqi governemnt even though Saddam's cancellation was in dispute.
Old article about the original contract cancellation.
The West Qurna field will now be reopened for bidding. Obviously, in the new energy market of $96 per barrel oil, the contract is worth much more. In retaliation, Russia is threatening to reverse a promise to cancel $13 billion in Iraqi debt.
See the article:
Iraq, With U.S. Support, Voids a Russian Oil Contract - New York Times