Was the War In Iraq About Oil? Look At Today's "No Bid" Oil Wealth Contracts

This lingering question remains unanswered: Was the war in Iraq really about oil?



Iraq has decided to exploit its vast oil wealth by offering big oil companies contracts to explore and drill in Iraq.

Four Western oil companies — Exxon Mobil, Shell, Total, and BP — are in the final stages of “talks with Iraq’s Oil Ministry for no-bid contracts to service Iraq’s largest fields.” The New York Times reports:

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 […]

There was suspicion among many in the Arab world and among parts of the American public that the United States had gone to war in Iraq precisely to secure the oil wealth these contracts seek to extract. The Bush administration has said that the war was necessary to combat terrorism. It is not clear what role the United States played in awarding the contracts; there are still American advisers to Iraq’s Oil Ministry.