Are We Supposed To Be Surprised?

BAGHDAD:
Four Western oil companies are in the final stages of negotiations this
month on contracts that will return them to Iraq, 36 years after losing
their oil concession to nationalization as Saddam Hussein rose to power.

Exxon
Mobil, Shell, Total and BP — the original partners in the Iraq
Petroleum Company — along with Chevron and a number of smaller oil
companies, are in talks with Iraq’s Oil Ministry for no-bid contracts
to service Iraq’s largest fields, according to ministry officials, oil
company officials and an American diplomat.

The deals,
expected to be announced on June 30, will lay the foundation for the
first commercial work for the major companies in Iraq since the
American invasion, and open a new and potentially lucrative country for
their operations.

The no-bid contracts are unusual for the
industry, and the offers prevailed over others by more than 40
companies, including companies in Russia, China and India. The
contracts, which would run for one to two years and are relatively
small by industry standards, would nonetheless give the companies an
advantage in bidding on future contracts in a country that many experts
consider to be the best hope for a large-scale increase in
oil production.

Deals with Iraq are set to bring oil giants back – International Herald Tribune.