The governor's veto of Central Corridor mirrors the Bush administration's focus on oil to the detriment of energy efficient rail transport. We can spend a trillion making sure of our position in Iraq, but we don't have much left for Amtrak or commuter rail.
Little noticed during the recent battles in Basra and Baghdad was the announcement from Baghdad that 35 oil companies had qualified for future oil field contracts. The United States led the list with seven of our largest producers.
Any oil company who signed deals with the Kurds is barred by the Maliki government.
The Oil Ministry could soon announce that five companies will receive negotiated contracts for services on some of Iraq's major fields. As a new oil law has yet to be ratified by Parliament, the contracts are limited to two years.
The first awards are expected to go to majors. Shell should receive deals for Kirkuk and Missan. Shell believes it can increase Missan's current daily output of 120,000 barrels.
British Petroleum is likely to get both Rumaila fields. The others should go to Exxon Mobil, Chevron, and French giant Total.
Iraq is one big sedimentary oil bearing basin which is about 25 percent explored with modern seismology. Estimates suggest Iraq's proven reserves of 115 billion barrels could double or even triple with new technology.
Iraq's easy to reach high quality oil looks good compared to recent expensive finds in deep ocean water like Chevron's Jack 2 in the Gulf of Mexico.
Our State Department recently announced a strategic framework for economic relations with Iraq.
This puts us on the shoulder of Iraq's government for a long time.
The war in Iraq was not about mythical WMDs, elusive Middle East democracy, or the war on terror. It's about oil, a lot it.
Rolf E. Westgard,
Deerwood
