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Nothing To Do With Oil

From John Judis:

To someone like myself who is comparable unversed in petroleum law, it is hard to appreciate the provisions, which are couched in impenetrable jargon. But a few features stand out. Power over deciding foreign contracts seems to be vested primarily with something the Federal Oil and Gas Council, which will include representatives from the federal and regional government, the Iraqi national bank, outside experts, and "executive managers" from "related petroleum companies." At several points in the document, control by the oil ministry is stipulated but then crossed out in favor of this body, which appears to include representatives of foreign oil companies. The document stresses "transparency," but full disclosure of contract provisions appears limited. At one point, a provision granted that two months after a contract's approval "the text of the contract shall be made public" is crossed out.

Christopher Hayes is the Washington, D.C. Editor of The Nation.

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