Since our invasion in 2003, the US has encouraged Iraq to come up with an oil law that would turn the state-owned oil system over to foreign oil companies. Such a law would allow Production Sharing Agreements, called PSAs to be signed with Exxon, Chevron, BP and Shell to capture and control all the oil production from new fields and reap a large share of the profits for the next 15 to 30 years.


here is the link

Bush's Last Surge for the Oil

That is pretty much how the oil has always been sold in the med-East. The country signs a lease agreement with one of the big 7 oil companies. The company comes in drills for oil, pays so much a month for drilling rights and then so much a barrel for the oil.

The oil isn't going to do any body any good sitting underground. If the country wants to sell the oil they have a right too.

sadly, I really doubt if any major oil company is going to have any further interest in Iraq. The oil field is past peak production and I can not envision any company getting any return on the investment required to drill the needed wells.

What I don't understand is, it's as though this status of presidency is going to last forever, but it can only last a maximum of 8 years, and after the president leaves his post or gets voted out, presidency will most likely fall to his/her democratic foe. Why take such labour in trying to establish something as though it's going to last forever?

In many cases the next president will continue important policy approaches of the previous president, depending on the issue of course. If John Kerry would have won the presidency in the last election, the U.S. would still be involved in Iraq.

Plus what incentive is that for any of the major oil companis to desire to invest in Iraqi oil. It costs from 5 to 25 million dollars to just drill a well and the operating cost is over a million dollars a motnth from then on. There has to be a big reassurance that a well is going to be able to produce for the term of the lease. Here in Texas the oil companies will not touch a lease unless it it for a minimum of 99 years. As a rule it takes the first 25 years just to recap the initial investment.

there is tremendous incentive now for any oil company not to invest in Iraqi oil. The fields are past peak production, companies will fear for the safety of any equipment they build, it will be difficult to assure the safety of any oil field workers to work in the fields. There is also the waiting development of the Canadian fields which show much more promise than the mid-East fields and there is the competition from Venezuela which may surpass the mid east in production.

I do not forsee any big rush of oil companies wanting to go to Iraq and I do not think any would even consider a 15 year lease.

Iraq still has large oil reserves i hope they stay in the ground untill our Iraqi people have a real transparant independent no strings attached leader in the future when oil fields around the world have run out

this will benefit the iraqi people even more insha-allah!

Hopefully one day it will benefit the Iraqi people. At the moment I can not see it being of any benefit to anybody. Perhaps in the near future Iraq will develope it's own oil company such as Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela have done. This just selling the oil is a money looser for everybody.

At the same down I also hope they understand that oil production is just a temporary income and will come to an end, when the oil is no longer cost effective to pump out of the ground and ship across the world to be made into a usable product.

When that break comes to them Inshallah, may they have the wisdom to use the time and money to develop other industries.

A country that depends on oil production for its well being is facing a down ward spiral that leads to poverty and exploitation of it's people. They need to treat it as a gift from Allah(swt) use it for wisdom to gain true independance. When a country exploits it's natural resources, it is borrowing from future generations. They need to set up industrializations and a lasting economy as payment for what they have borrowed from their children.

Insha-allah they will take the right steps like Qatar wich is investing it's billions in multiple sectors of the economy

exactly