The Spark

the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist

“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx

Iraqi Oil:
Falling out among Thieves

Feb 17, 2003

Even before they get rid of Saddam Hussein, U.S. leaders drew up a plan for Iraq’s oil reserves, the second largest in the world after Saudi Arabia’s.

According to the magazine Petrostrategies, the Pentagon and the White House intend to "closely control ... privatization of the largest part of this sector." The article says, "The large American oil companies must play the biggest role, leaving just a consolation part for the Russians, an honorable part for the British firms, and, if possible, nothing at all for the other European companies."

What the oil magazine doesn’t mention is that the U.S. already imports an estimated two thirds of all Iraqi crude oil.

But due to the so-called embargo after Papa Bush’s war against Iraq, U.S. oil corporations cannot import this oil directly. The U.S. oil corporations have to buy it from France’s TotalFinaElf, Britain’s Royal Dutch Shell and Russia’s Lukoil. So right now the European oil corporations are taking a nice piece of the profits.

The U.S. oil corporations like to talk about competition–by which they mean their right to get the lion’s share of any profits. The U.S. government is taking us to war to ensure they get it.