Oil Ministry gets go-ahead from cabinet to sign two-year deals with Big Oil…

Iraq's cabinet has given the green light to the Oil Ministry to sign agreements with international oil companies to help increase the nation's crude output, a ministry official said Wednesday, The Associated Press reports.

The chairman of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee said on Tuesday he may try to require Iraq to spend more of its oil revenue on reconstruction instead of investing the money in foreign banks, Richard Cowan reports for Reuters.