Pelletiere explores the history of the international oil industry with the Persian Gulf as his focus. Did America go to war in 1991 and 2003 to secure control of oil supplies from the Gulf? The author is a former CIA political analyst specializing in Iraq.
The departure of the last U.S. troops from Iraq at the end of 2011 left a broken country and a host of unanswered questions. What was the war really about? Why and how did the occupation drag on for nearly nine years, while most Iraqis, Britons, and Americans desperately wanted it to end? And why did the troops have to leave? Now, in a gripping account of the war that dominated U.S. foreign policy over the last decade, investigative journalist Greg Muttitt takes us behind the scenes to answer some of these questions and reveals the heretofore-untold story of the oil politics that played out through the occupation of Iraq. Drawing upon hundreds of unreleased government documents and extensive interviews with senior American, British, and Iraqi officials, Muttitt exposes the plans and preparations that were in place to shape policies in favor of American and British energy interests. We follow him through a labyrinth of clandestine meetings, reneged promises, and abuses of power; we also see how Iraqis struggled for their own say in their future, in spite of their dysfunctional government and rising levels of violence. Through their stories, we begin to see a very different Iraq from the one our politicians have told us about. In light of the Arab revolutions, the war in Libya, and renewed threats against Iran, Fuel on the Fire provides a vital guide to the lessons from Iraq and of the global consequences of America's persistent oil addiction.
The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, commonly known as OPEC, has been a notoriously opaque and mysterious organization. In this book, Fadil J. Chalabi, an insider who spent many years at the heart of the organization as Iraq's permanent undersecretary for oil, invites us to discover the intrigue and arguments that have shaped OPEC policy since its inception in 1960. The author interweaves his analysis with first-hand experiences that give authenticity to momentous events, including the infamous 1975 Vienna hostage-taking when Carlos the Jackal kidnapped a number of OPEC ministers, including the author. From the time of Egypt under Nasser, Gaddafi's Libya, Saddam's Iraq and Khomeini's Iranian revolution, Chalabi uses his unique position and his unparallelled insider knowledge to illuminate an organization that has, at times, been accused of fomenting economic turmoil, political unrest and even military action. Benefiting from the perspective of an insider who understands the inner workings of OPEC and its dramatic impact on world politics and economics, this book is an essential read for those who wish to look beyond the myths of this highly influential and at times controversial organization.
This booklet provides a summary of the author’s Book, which is based not so much on research of Iraq’s past and present or the international oil industry but on the author’s first-hand experience over six decades in the techno-economics and concessionary affairs of the oil industry at large and specifically in Libya, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, complemented by his published papers and rich library books used as references. The author intends to provide history and a perspective of Iraq’s oil and gas development for the owners of the resource, the Iraqi nation, for the oil and gas industry at large and last, but not least, for the colleagues at the Ministry of Oil (MoO) and the Iraqi National Oil Company (INOC) who were involved, often at great cost to their health and reputations.
Ten years after the end of the Gulf War, the conflict continues with unresolved questions about economic sanctions and Iraq's participation in the oil export system. A specialist in Middle Eastern politics and an intelligence officer, Pelletiére covered the Iran-Iraq War as well as the subsequent Gulf conflict. He argues that Iraq's victory over Iran in 1988 gave the nation the capability of becoming a regional superpower with a strong say in how the Gulf's oil reserves were managed. Because the United States could not tolerate an ultranationalist state with the potential to destabilize the world's economy, war then became inevitable. This study examines the rise of the international oil system from the 1920s when the great cartel was formed. Comprised of seven companies, it was designed to ensure their continued control over the world's oil supplies. When the companies lost control with the OPEC revolution in 1973, the United States moved into the realm of Gulf politics with the goal of protecting the world economy. Pelletire details how Saddam Hussein unwillingly precipitated the Gulf crisis and why the conflict is not likely to be resolved soon-or peacefully.
This Selected Issues paper focuses on the Iraqi oil sector and analyzes the developments and prospects after the twin shock. The Iraqi economy was affected by the two major challenges during 2014—ISIS insurgency and the fall in global oil prices. Iraq’s oil sector has performed well despite the security challenges that emerged after the onset of the ISIS insurgency in June 2014. On average, Iraq earned $97 per barrel on oil exported in 2014. Asia remained the leading destination of the Iraqi oil exports during 2013–14, and its share increased from 50 percent in 2012 to 65 percent in 2014.
This is a print on demand edition of a hard to find publication. Contents: (1) Issues: Draft Hydrocarbon Legislation; Interim Arrange. and Contracts: Kurdistan Regional Gov¿t. Contracts; Ministry of Oil Contracts; Revenue Sharing and Current Arrange.; (2) Iraqi Issues: Iraq¿s Constitution: Fed. and Regional Authority; Foreign Participation; Players and Positions: Kurds: Regional Authority, Revenue, and Kirkuk; Sunni Arabs: Revenue Sharing and Foreign Participation; Dawa and Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq: Invest. and Develop.; Industry Unions and the Southern Oil Co.; International Energy Co.; (3) Oil Revenue and Security Concerns; Revenues and Arrange.: Current Arrange.; Oversight of Oil Prod¿n. and Revenue Mgmt.; Oil Revenue and Budget Execution; Security: Infrastructure Attacks; (4) U.S. Policy. Illus.