Business As Usual

Iraqi exiles and senior U.S. officials agreed Saturday that international oil companies should take a leading post-war role in reviving Iraq’s oil industry … Some oil company executives had thought post-war nationalism would prevent early access to oilfields that, apart from those in Saudi Arabia and Mexico, are the only significant reserves not yet open to commercial capital. Production-sharing is the type of deal favored by the oil industry because it guarantees companies a healthy profit margin, even at low world oil prices. Alternative royalty schemes are weighted toward government revenue and can penalize investors at low prices … Long-term contracts are expected to see U.S. companies ExxonMobil, ChevronTexaco and ConocoPhillips compete with Anglo-Dutch Shell, Britain’s BP, TotalFinaElf of France, Russia’s LUKOIL and Chinese state companies … the group did not discuss names for those that might run Iraq’s oil industry in the short term. Phillip Carroll, the former head of Shell in the United States, is said to be a candidate to oversee oil policy.