Thursday, June 18, 2009

Iraqi Oil Minister accused of mother of all sell-outs


To public fury, the country is handing over control of its fields to foreign companies

By Patrick Cockburn in Baghdad

"Furious protests threaten to undermine the Iraqi government's controversial plan to give international oil companies a stake in its giant oilfields in a desperate effort to raise declining oil production and revenues.

In less than two weeks, on 29 and 30 June, the Iraqi Oil Minister, Hussain Shahristani, will award service contracts to the world's largest oil companies to develop six of Iraq's largest oil-producing fields over 20 to 25 years....."

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