[OFB Cafe] Bio Fuels

[Derek Broughton]

On July 22, 2008 00:13:08 Timothy Butler wrote:
> >> as i understand it, they are operating there only as contractors,
> >> with the
> >> iraqi government actually owning the oil. perhaps, though, you could
> >> explain how any of this has particularly benefited the oil companies.
> >
> > Well, the oil companies' bottom lines would be pretty telling.  It
> > doesn't
> > matter that they're only contractors - they're the ones making all
> > the profit off the oil, not Iraq.
>
> 	Are they telling? I've not seen much evidence to the fact. 

Pick an oil company - or a contractor like Haliburton.  In February of 2002, 
Haliburton stock was worth $6.  Now it's worth almost $50.

Exxon Mobil has gone from $32 to $90 in the same period.

I'll concede stock price does not necessarily reflect actual profit, but these 
share prices are being fueled by continual high earnings reports.

> 	It could 
> well be, of course, that the contractor is making more money than the
> owner. This would be comparable to how a construction contractor might
> make more off a plot it is building for McDonald's than McDonald's
> makes off that plot during construction. What would be telling is if
> the contractor continued to make more money than McDonald's on the
> plot after the store opened.

What construction?  Iraq used to be one of the world's largest oil producers, 
and the wells are still there, undamaged, since the invasion.  Unlike the 
wells in Kuwait, the Iraqis either never considered blowing their own wells, 
or they didn't have a chance.

The "contractors" are simply pumping and selling the oil that's always been 
available, but Iraq wasn't allowed to sell except under strict UN regulation.
-- 
derek