2 Secret Iraq Oil Plans - So Says Greg Palast

Courtesy of ICasualties, comes this link to Greg Palast's Report that there were actually 2 competing 'secret oil plans' for Iraq (pre-invasion, that is), one favored by the neo-cons and the other favored by the oil industy.

...there were two conflicting plans, setting off a hidden policy war between neo-conservatives at the Pentagon, on one side, versus a combination of "Big Oil" executives and US State Department "pragmatists."

"Big Oil" appears to have won. The latest plan, obtained by Newsnight from the US State Department was, we learned, drafted with the help of American oil industry consultants.

Not surprisingly, this all took place before 9/11...More below

It seems, so far, that the winner was creating an Iraqi state-run oil industry, which is the plan favored by 'Big Oil'.  The other plan, however, was privatizing the oil fields...to DESTROY OPEC!

The new plan, crafted by neo-conservatives intent on using Iraq's oil to destroy the Opec cartel through massive increases in production above Opec quotas.

The sell-off was given the green light in a secret meeting in London headed by Ahmed Chalabi shortly after the US entered Baghdad, according to Robert Ebel. Mr. Ebel, a former Energy and CIA oil analyst, now a fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, flew to the London meeting, he told Newsnight, at the request of the State Department.

To destroy OPEC?? Was this ever our goal??  Is it now?  WTF??

Also involved as players: an Iraqi-born oil industry consultant, Falah Aljibury; Ahmed Chalabi; Philip Carroll, the former CEO of Shell Oil USA; Paul Bremmer; (James) Baker Botts Law Firm.  

Anyone else think this meeting got a footnote in Cheney's secret energy papers?

•  We Must Destroy OPEC

  After we get done destroying Iran, Syria, the World Bank, the U.N., etc., etc.  This is a great time to be an American.

  by bink on Thu Mar 17, 2005 at 08:27:41 AM PDT

  •  That may be the plan

    2020 Scenario: OPEC May Be Replaced
    by Hector Igbikiowubo

    RELATED NEWS:
    Will LNG Save America's Oil-Addicted Economy?...

    US: Natural gas reserves slashed...

    Expert says Saudi oil may have peaked...

    Opec has no capacity to lift quotas, says Algeria...

    IMF 'wants more spare Opec oil'...

    It's 2020, and the energy ministers of the Organization of Gas-Exporting Countries, known as OGEC, the umbrella for the dozen or so nations which dominate the market, gather in Madrid for their annual get-together to determine production quotas and price levels for the new primary energy source that fuels the global economy , natural gas, or more specifically, liquefied natural gas, known as LNG.

    That scenario may seem somewhat fanciful right now, but the emergence of a partner, possibly even a successor, to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, which has dominated the world"s energy market since the 1970s, is on the cards as the natural gas business, particularly the Gulf-based LNG sector, is set to expand into a global boom with the US as the dominant market. The worldwide shift toward LNG will bring in its wake profound political and economic changes in many parts of the world, providing a lifeline for the economies of some Gulf states whose oil production is sliding into decline as fields are exhausted. "The international trade in gas delivered by pipeline and tanker, will rival the scale and complexity of today's petroleum market," said Edmund O"Sullivan, editor-in- chief of the Middle East Economic Digest."The world gas price will then become as important to Middle East economies as the world oil price.

    Logic suggests that exporters will want to coordinate strategies to prevent a gas price collapse. Whisper it those who dare: an OPEC for gas may soon be on the world energy agenda," he added. In December, some of OPEC's most important member states shifted their attention from crude oil to LNG exports at a conference convened by the administration of the US President George W. Bush to boost US imports of the refrigerated fuel. The United States is without doubt the key market for LNG, currently accounting for one-quarter of the natural gas consumed in the world every day. The Americans are increasingly concerned about the security of their energy supplies, and have long sought to undermine OPEC's influence in the oil market. While OPEC largely controls global oil supplies and prices, the Bush administration would like to see competition blossom among LNG exporters. Non-OPEC producers like Russia, Norway, Trinidad, Australia and Oman, are looking at LNG exports to generate new revenue. "It's in our interest to develop as many international sources as possible" for US imports of LNG, US Energy Secretary, Spencer Abraham, said at the conference in Washington. "LNG is clearly going to be a large factor in the world's future energy equation," he said.

    http://www.energybulletin.net/145.html

    "Time is for careful people, not passionate ones"

    by roseeriter on Thu Mar 17, 2005 at 08:33:55 AM PDT

    •  This will be an interesting read

      Thanks for the link Roseeriter. I've got to leave in a few minutes for an appointment, but I'll definitely check this out afterwards...

      On an aside, I'm the Newport, NH gal...can't recall if I ever gave you my Kos name...

      by shermanesq on Thu Mar 17, 2005 at 08:49:00 AM PDT

  •  world bank?

    i dont remember anyone in power having any problem with world bank.  running the world in the interest of corporations is something i'm sure most neocons would agree with.

    by brokenkeyboard on Thu Mar 17, 2005 at 09:00:42 AM PDT

•  I love Greg Palast...

  ...and if he's reporting on it, you can bet it's real.

  Checking out your link and RECOMMENDING so the word can get out.

  by grannyhelen on Thu Mar 17, 2005 at 08:32:28 AM PDT

  •  Thank you Granny

    My first 'real' diary, so I appreciate it!  I love Greg Palast too.  It really confounds me that there are not any duplicates of his in American journalism today.  

    Whoops, I forgot!  No such thing any more...silly me!

    by shermanesq on Thu Mar 17, 2005 at 08:45:50 AM PDT

    •  You're welcome, and for all Palast fans...

      His homepage has GREAT resources.

      by grannyhelen on Thu Mar 17, 2005 at 08:55:55 AM PDT

•  Much more than a footnote!

  I have long been convinced that the pre-9/11 secret energy meetings held by Cheney were all about Iraqi oil -- Cheney isn't fighting to keep secret the fact that environmentalists were excluded from energy policy meetings (no news there), but to keep secret that controlling Iraqi oil was a top priority long before 9/11.  

  by JenK on Thu Mar 17, 2005 at 08:37:37 AM PDT

  •  One would have to be really dumb

    to believe that oil had NOTHING to do with our decision to invade Iraq.

    Or a Hannity listener...

    by grannyhelen on Thu Mar 17, 2005 at 08:45:20 AM PDT

  •  Palast

    I have always thought the same, but this seems to be one of the first stories that confirms my suspicions.  I think Cheney forgot one thing, the information always gets out.  It may take a while and the main stream media may never pick the story up, but it gets out, particularly with the Internet.  I suspect more will follow.  When?  Who knows, but it will come out.

    by billj1 on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 07:27:07 PM PDT

•  The Neocons Hate Democracy

  I saw Greg Palast speak; anyone who gets a chance should go, because he has good stuff to say.

  The NeoCons are global strategists who believe American blood must be spilled in the service of multinational corporations.  

  They conflate a Global system with an American system.  

  They believe that disagreement with their means is the equivalent of treasonous collaboration with an invisible 'enemy'.

  They have mommy issues.  They are psychotic.
  

  by negropontedeathsquads on Thu Mar 17, 2005 at 08:44:17 AM PDT

  •  Hmm...isn't there a word for that?

    The NeoCons are global strategists who believe American blood must be spilled in the service of multinational corporations.

    What do you call it when the government uses the military to support corporations and engages in human rights and civil liberties abuses...?

    You know, the one that thinks that citizens should give their lives for the State?

    Ah, come on. You know. The name for a government that does all those things and then uses a minority group - like homosexuals - as a scapegoat? You know, a type of government that doesn't believe in legal abortions and targets intellectuals because they challenge the authority of the State?

    What's the name for that type of government? It's on the tip of my tongue...

    F...F...that right! Fascism!

    by grannyhelen on Thu Mar 17, 2005 at 08:49:41 AM PDT

    •  Forgot using propaganda...

      ...to get their "unfiltered" views out "directly to the populace".

      But of course, that goes without saying...

      by grannyhelen on Thu Mar 17, 2005 at 08:57:35 AM PDT

•  How secret were they supposed to be?

  
  This has been going on for 80 years at least.

  by DuctapeFatwa on Thu Mar 17, 2005 at 08:48:58 AM PDT

•  Destroy OPEC? Hah!

  Like the Saudis couldn't finance enough terrorists to blow up all the Iraqi oil infrastructure.

  How the heck are we going to protect Iraqi oil wells  and pipeline sufficiently well to accomplish this?

  by BlueSpace on Thu Mar 17, 2005 at 08:53:53 AM PDT

  •  Payback?

    Bush administration and others are trying to switch to LNG, in hopes of limiting the global influence of oil cartel
    Link

    "Time is for careful people, not passionate ones"

    by roseeriter on Thu Mar 17, 2005 at 09:12:34 AM PDT

    •  Yup. OPEC will go quietly. [n/t]

      by BlueSpace on Thu Mar 17, 2005 at 12:31:11 PM PDT

•  Most Americans

  (as I commented on a earlier diary noting the same reports) would never have supported the war had they been told that the purpose was to secure access to Iraq's oil. Hence, of course, the lies about WMD, the bogus links between Saddam and Al Qaeda, etc.

  Fear (of commies, now of terrorists) and noble ideals (freedom, democracy) have long been used by the U.S. government to sell its projects to the American people, but it is increasingly difficult to maintain this charade. If the majority finally do look at that man behind the curtain, there is going to be a huge backlash against the government, with terrible costs. Already, distrust of politicians is pandemic. We may be facing a time when the government is literally paralyzed because the public won't believe its representatives--even when they do tell the truth.

  by d52boy on Thu Mar 17, 2005 at 09:24:41 AM PDT

•  There is not enough oil in Iraq for this to work

  But that doesn't mean these ass-hats aren't stupid enough to try.

  by SW on Thu Mar 17, 2005 at 11:20:42 AM PDT

•  Palast article

  It never made sense to me that Cheney would not have revealed information regarding his task force.  What's the big deal?  We all know he sat down with the oil elite to divvy up the markets.  But I've always wondered whether his task force ever discussed invading Iraq for the oil?  If Mr. Palast's article is right,and it sounds like it just might be, it would explain Cheney's reluctance to give up any information on his task force.  I hate to be so conspiratorial, but these guys will stop at nothing to get what they want irrespective of the legality or the morality of the endeavor.

  by billj1 on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 07:24:05 PM PDT