Who will control/own Iraqs oil?
Iraq is relatively unique in invasion history.
The infrastructure gets wasted and much of the population are living in squalor.
BUT
The place is worth a bucketful of cash.
The fog of peace...
The US won the war, but does this give the US any ownership rights over Iraqi assets? Especially oil.
The legal issues cant be fought with guns.
The French and Russians want their original contracts honoured.
There are previous war reparations to pay.
The UN wants to keep its snout in the trough too, and sanctions are its only lever.
Reconstruction bill. Who pays?
US invasion bill. Who pays?
Are contracts to US companies, that are forced upon the Iraqis who have no choice in the matter, legal?
A contract is implicit, the two parties must agree to be bound. But the Iraqies have not agreed. That voids the contract in a court of law.
Who has ownership rights of revenue from the oil pumped out of the ground, and are these ownership rights enforcable at international level?
It looks like the Iraqi people are about number 99 on the priority list.
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Why does the US want sanctions lifted?
All parties agree that ending sanctions is vital to Iraq's future. But the speed with which Washington is acting has surprised some observers.
There are fears that the US might use its current control of Iraq to agree deals as part of a "victory dividend" for its role at the head of the military coalition.
With no government ready to take over from the toppled regime of Saddam Hussein, it is unclear who else would take charge.
The question of ownership is more than an academic point. A company buying Iraqi oil could face legal action from someone who argues that the new Baghdad administration does not own the oil or have the right to sell it.
What do other countries think?
Correspondents say a key fear is that if the UN lifts sanctions it will effectively lose control of what is going on in Iraq. The sanctions remain the main leverage for Security Council members, including war opponents such as France, Russia and Germany, to persuade the US to give the UN a political role in Iraq's reconstruction.
There is an economic as well as political aspect to the views of countries including France and Russia. Russian firm Lukoil says it expects its contract to develop Iraqi oilfields to be honoured while France's state-controlled oil company TotalFinaElf also reached similar potentially lucrative understandings. France was also the leading supplier of goods to Iraq under the UN's oil-for-food programme.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/2955789.stm
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[This message was edited by eek on 05-05-03 at 06:52 AM.]
Iraq is relatively unique in invasion history.
The infrastructure gets wasted and much of the population are living in squalor.
BUT
The place is worth a bucketful of cash.
The fog of peace...
The US won the war, but does this give the US any ownership rights over Iraqi assets? Especially oil.
The legal issues cant be fought with guns.
The French and Russians want their original contracts honoured.
There are previous war reparations to pay.
The UN wants to keep its snout in the trough too, and sanctions are its only lever.
Reconstruction bill. Who pays?
US invasion bill. Who pays?
Are contracts to US companies, that are forced upon the Iraqis who have no choice in the matter, legal?
A contract is implicit, the two parties must agree to be bound. But the Iraqies have not agreed. That voids the contract in a court of law.
Who has ownership rights of revenue from the oil pumped out of the ground, and are these ownership rights enforcable at international level?
It looks like the Iraqi people are about number 99 on the priority list.
=====================================
Why does the US want sanctions lifted?
All parties agree that ending sanctions is vital to Iraq's future. But the speed with which Washington is acting has surprised some observers.
There are fears that the US might use its current control of Iraq to agree deals as part of a "victory dividend" for its role at the head of the military coalition.
With no government ready to take over from the toppled regime of Saddam Hussein, it is unclear who else would take charge.
The question of ownership is more than an academic point. A company buying Iraqi oil could face legal action from someone who argues that the new Baghdad administration does not own the oil or have the right to sell it.
What do other countries think?
Correspondents say a key fear is that if the UN lifts sanctions it will effectively lose control of what is going on in Iraq. The sanctions remain the main leverage for Security Council members, including war opponents such as France, Russia and Germany, to persuade the US to give the UN a political role in Iraq's reconstruction.
There is an economic as well as political aspect to the views of countries including France and Russia. Russian firm Lukoil says it expects its contract to develop Iraqi oilfields to be honoured while France's state-controlled oil company TotalFinaElf also reached similar potentially lucrative understandings. France was also the leading supplier of goods to Iraq under the UN's oil-for-food programme.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/2955789.stm
============================================
[This message was edited by eek on 05-05-03 at 06:52 AM.]
