Iraq Approves Oil Deal With China

From the Iraq Oil Report:

Iraq has approved a $3 billion deal with China to develop the al-Ahdab oil field.

It’s the first Saddam-era oil deal to be honored by the new Iraqi government. It initially was canceled after the 2003 invasion.

A government statement says the Cabinet approved the deal on Tuesday. It was signed last week in China.

Under the contract, China National Petroleum Corp. will develop the field for 20 years, the AP reported. It’s expected to produce up to 25,000 barrels a day after three years, and eventually reach 125,000 bpd.

The field is in Wasit province, about 99 miles southeast of Baghdad.

U.S. policy makers and American consumers in the past few months have been immersed in concerns about soaring oil prices and how to lower them. Fuel prices are also expected to be a focal issue when American voters cast their ballots in the upcoming presidential elections.

But while I can understand Americans’ fears about fuel prices and availability, writes Sarmad Ali for The Wall Street Journal, I have a harder time understanding why Iraqis — with their oases of crude oil reserves and untapped oilfields in the south and the north — have had to put up with high oil prices and severe shortages of gasoline, diesel and cooking gas.

Iraqi security forces took control of Sunni Anbar province from the US military Monday, a milestone in moves to wind down the American presence in a key area that was an insurgent stronghold.

Iraqi troops paraded with flags flying at a formal handover ceremony in the provincial capital Ramadi, once a byword for vicious fighting, though underlying political tensions are yet to be resolved, reports Ian Black for The Guardian.

Security progress after the U.S. troop surge has not been matched by internal political reconciliation. The Iraqi parliament has yet to pass a controversial election law that has been delayed by a dispute over the oil-rich northern province of Kirkuk.

B’Man: So, rednecks, we invaded a sovereign country for various reasons that have been proved as lies. By most estimations, one can reasonably consider Iraq’s oil reserves as a key REAL reason we are there (world domination is another). But, a far as real potential adversaries are concerned, both militarily and economically, China is far critical to our defense. So, did those camel jockeys (said tongue-in-cheek) go too far by giving OUR oil contracts to the Chinese?

Can anyone still tout ‘genius’ as a motivation for this idiotic move into the ME? Does anyone else see this very act an act of defiance from the Iraqi government? Could it be a thumb in our eye or a bird in our face?

Let us face it. Bush and the neocon cabal have screwed America and are forcing us into a situation with China and Russia that will devastate our economy and could actually be the death of us all.

Think about it. How long do you think the rest of the world will keep quiet? Do you think that it is remotely possible that Russia and China (perhaps Iran and other ME countries) will become so frightened by our world-grab that they might team up and give us a real battle? Do you think that if they were indeed frightened that we are trying to take their shit, or worse, kill them all, that they would send hundreds of nukes this way?

Is it possible that as Americans, we should rethink our Imperialistic advances, vote out those who are threatening the rest of the world and set a new standard. Make amends, explain that we have retaken the governement from the fools who have hijacked us and are now backing out of their yards.

THEN, explain that we will still wipe their ass out if any move is made in rhetrobution.

My point is that there should be no reason that we GIVE them to hate us and want us dead. However, what we are doing is giving the world reason to hate us and suspect us of evil motives. If I were them, I would. It is obvious that America (as is represented by the neocon/Zionist rule) is not what the REAL America stands for and we need to take it back.