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Ousting Saddam Will Open Bonanza For American Oil Firms
The ouster of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein will open a bonanza for American oil companies who have been long banished from Iraq, a U.S. newspaper reported Sunday, September 15. Hey! I never thought of that... The Washington Post said that if this were to happen oil deals between Iraq and Russia, France and other countries would be foiled and the world petroleum market will be reshuffled. Although senior Bush administration officials say they have not begun to focus on the issues involving oil and Iraq, American and foreign oil companies have already begun maneuvering for a stake in the countryâs huge proven reserves of 112 billion barrels of crude oil, the largest in the world outside Saudi Arabia, reported the Post. âThe importance of Iraqâs oil has made it potentially one of the administrationâs biggest bargaining chips in negotiations to win backing from the U.N. Security Council and Western allies for President Bushâs call for tough international action against Hussein.âAll five permanent members of the Security Council - the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China - have international oil companies with major stakes in a change of leadership in Baghdad,â said the paper. Smoothing out who gets what when the dust settles probably removes the biggest sticking points to getting the hoedown under way. Being materialistic cowboys, we think in terms of "the sonofabitch kills people for fun and he's evil." The Euros, being idealists with lotsa culture, think in terms of "we have important contracts with His Excellency that allow us to provide petrol to our citizens at very high prices. We mustn't do anything hasty." Posted by: Fred Pruitt 2002-09-15 |
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