How the West will profit from Iraq’s most precious commodity

The Independent on Sunday today reveals a draft for a new law that would give Western oil companies a massive share in the third largest reserves in the world. To the victors, the oil? That is how some experts view this unprecedented arrangement with a major Middle East oil producer that guarantees investors huge profits for the next 30 years.

“Three outside groups have had far more opportunity to scrutinise this legislation than most Iraqis,” said Greg Muttitt of Platform, a human rights and environmental group that monitors the oil industry. “The draft went to the US government and major oil companies in July, and to the International Monetary Fund in September. Last month I met a group of 20 Iraqi MPs in Jordan, and I asked them how many had seen the legislation. Only one had.”
The Independent