http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/18/AR2008021800716.html

A law that could shape Iraq’s future by clearing the way for investment in its oil fields is deadlocked by a battle for control of the reserves and no end to the impasse is in sight.

The bill is also meant to share revenue equitably from the world’s third largest oil reserves, thus helping bridge the deep divides between Iraq’s Shi’ites, Sunni Arabs and Kurds.

The one thing all sides agree on is the law is vital to securing foreign investment to boost Iraq’s oil output and rebuild its shattered economy after five years of insurgency and sectarian fighting that has killed tens of thousands of people.

But the law remains stalled by bitter rows between Baghdad and the largely autonomous Kurdistan region in the north over who will control the fields and how revenue will be shared.

Iraq, currently producing some 2.3 million barrels per day, is seeking major investment to tap its reserves and boost output. It holds 115 billion barrels of proven crude oil reserves, surpassed only by Saudi Arabia and Iran.

US officials say the main reason foreign oil majors have avoided Iraq is the lack of the law, not security concerns.

In the absence of the law, Baghdad has opened the door to foreign oil firms by offering a role in servicing existing oil infrastructure. Over 70 companies met the deadline on Monday for submitting documents to qualify to compete in service contract tenders.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/JB16Ak05.html

In the current circumstances of the world energy scene, any plan to hasten the US effort to achieve greater oil independence translates in political terms as taking control of Iraq’s oil reserves. There is simply no other viable alternative open to the US. Essentially, it boils down to the 20 words that the former US Federal Bank chief Alan Greenspan wrote towards the end of his memoir, “I am saddened that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows: The Iraq war is largely about oil.”