2002-2003: Experts Say Control of Iraq’s Oil Would Help US

Noted experts, analysts and commentators, as well as current and former US and foreign government officials, say that control over Iraq’s oil would benefit the United States. A pro-American government in Iraq would provide the US with stable access to its northern and southern oil fields, provide US oil companies with favorable access to oil production sharing agreements and other oil industry-related contracts, allow the US to undermine OPEC’s influence in the oil market, and ensure that Iraq’s oil is traded in US dollars. [London Times, 7/11/2002; Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 8/20/2002; Washington Post, 9/15/2002; Wall Street Journal, 9/16/2002; Daily Telegraph, 9/17/2002; San Francisco Chronicle, 9/29/2002; ABC News, 10/4/2002; ABC News, 10/4/2002; Alternet, 10/16/2002; Reuters, 10/17/2002; New York Times, 10/17/2002; Le Monde (Paris), 11/2002; International Herald Tribune, 11/1/2002; Los Angeles Times, 11/5/2002; MSNBC, 11/7/2002; MSNBC, 11/7/2002; MSNBC, 11/7/2002; Los Angeles Times, 11/8/2002; Los Angeles Times, 11/8/2002; MSNBC, 11/11/2002; MSNBC, 11/11/2002; Guardian, 11/22/2002; New York Times, 12/26/2002; International Herald Tribune, 1/17/2003; Observer, 1/26/2003; Guardian, 1/26/2003; Fox News Sunday, 3/6/2003; Time, 5/10/2003; Washington Post, 6/5/2003]