The secret renegotiation of BP’s Iraqi oil contracts
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Jul 30, 2011
During the second half of 2009, Iraq held two auctions of its largest oilfields, awarding them to multinational companies such as BP, Shell and ExxonMobil to operate under 20-year contracts. Between them the oilfields account for over 60% of Iraq’s reserves. The contracts were service contracts rather than the companies’ preferred production sharing agreements, which...
Blair envoy lobbied Iraq Prime Minister for BP 3 months after leaving post
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May 19, 2011
New documents show holes in revolving door regulation New documents released by Greg Muttitt, author of Fuel on the Fire, today show that Tony Blair’s Iraq envoy, Sir Jeremy Greenstock, lobbied the Iraqi prime minister on behalf of BP just three months after leaving Iraq. On joining BP as special adviser in June 2004, Greenstock was...
Book Launch 23 May: Fuel on the Fire – Oil and Politics in Occupied Iraq
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May 16, 2011
Join PLATFORM and War on Want for an inspiring evening of debate and discussion for the exclusive book launch of Greg Muttitt’s gripping new book on Iraq and Oil. Time: Monday, May 23 · 7:00pm – 9:00pm Location: Khalili Theatre, School of Oriental and African Studies, Thornhaugh Street, WC1H 0XG Nearest tube: Russell Square View Larger Map Oil lies at the heart of...
Stop harassment of Iraqi oil workers
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Apr 21, 2010
After weeks of industrial action in the southern oil fields in Iraq, management are trying to prevent the Refinery Workers Union from operating by sending four of its leaders to other workplaces. This is a standard management tactic in Iraq, and in the past has often meant sending union leaders to more hostile, violent areas of...
Iraq: New contracts will undermine Iraqi independence
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Nov 12, 2009
The mega-oil deals signed and pledged in Iraq in last week have been major news, marking another step by the oil majors back into a country that liberated itself from the “robbery and exhaustion practiced by the monopolistic oil companies” in 1972. But the full consequences of the agreements have been hard to untangle. BP and Chinese...
Biden eats Iraqi pie with American fork
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Sep 25, 2009
Obama’s administration is continuing Bush’ policy of demanding that the Iraqi government hand over highly profitable oil contracts to Western oil companies. According to UPI, during a visit to Baghdad this month, Vice-Pres Biden was “hustling on behalf of the U.S. oil giants who have long dreamed of getting their hands on what may be the...
The power of finance: Remp from Baku oil to offshore wind
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Sep 21, 2009
“Where are they now?” is one of the questions PLATFORM likes to ask about former BP & Shell corporate executives.Brian Anderson, head of Shell Nigeria in 1995 when Ken Saro-Wiwa was executed, is now CEO of Addax Petroleum operating in the Niger Delta, Cameroon and Gabon. Meanwhile John Manzoni, Head of BP Refining at the...
Iraqi Opposition to BP’s Rumaila Contract
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Jul 19, 2009
Iraqi oil workers have come out in strong opposition to BP’s new contract for the super-giant Rumaila oil field, saying they will not allow foreign oil companies Signed in early July as part of the first bidding round for Iraq’s oil, the 20-year contract gives BP and Chinese oil companyCNPC significant control over production from Rumaila, which holds reserves...
