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OIL AND PETRODOLLARS
MID-EAST REALITIES - www.MiddleEast.Org - Washington - 12/12:
OIL is the big prize of the Middle East. Petro Dollars flow from it. The
American economy floats on what remains an amazingly cheap and huge supply of
it. After all, even now, oil that is pumped in the Middle East, shipped around
the world, refined, heavily taxed, and trucked to gasoline stations, continues
to cost Americans not much more than a gallon of bottled water! No wonder the
Western countries prefer to pump Arab and third-world oil for their current needs
rather than their own.
The Arab people benefit little from their oil; wile the Arab oil families,
the Gulf Arab "client regimes" literally bank on it. The lesson of the 70s was
learned when shortly after King Feisal attempted an oil embargo he was assassinated.
The regimes maintain themselves in power, and in the money, by using the huge
wealth provided by the black gold to purchase everything in sight -- a steady
supply of whores, both sexual and political; journalists; organizations; politicians;
publications.
In recent years since the Gulf War the Saudis have in fact been "convinced"
to increase the role of Western oil companies, not to mention the American military
and CIA, in the affairs of "the Kingdom".
And to this mix that it is Western banks that soak up the recycled petro dollars,
and Western arms merchants who cash in for their yearly multi-billions.
The British recognized the great importance of the coming oil era way back
in the days of Lawrence and Allenby. The Americans took control of the region
after World War II because of it. Israel was at first a questionable addition
to this mix, partly accounting for Secretary of State George Marshall's vehement
opposition to U.S. support for its creation, which in fact came very close to
bringing about his resignation. But today, thanks to the divisions and weaknesses
of the Arab world, caused by the very oil regimes the West created and maintains,
Israel is today America's closest partner in perpetuating these "client regimes"
and maintaining the status quo.
IRAN, LIBYA, OIL COMPANIES HOPE FOR GOP WIN
By John K. Cooley
A T H E N S, Greece, Dec. 11, ABC News � Middle East
oil producers Iran and Libya, still under U.S.
sanctions, and American oil companies
prevented from working there by those
sanctions hope fervently for a Bush-Cheney
victory in the tortuous U.S. presidential election
process.
Oil industry and government sources in the Middle
East believe that an administration headed by Republican
George W. Bush and his running mate, Dick Cheney,
would be able to stabilize world oil prices, and also might
end remaining oil sanctions against both Iran and Libya.
�If Bush wins,� Muhammad-Javad Larajani, a former
Iranian diplomat, told reporters in Tehran last week, �it
will be certain that oil companies will have more liberty to
conclude contracts with Iran.�
�It is preferable for us, and it is possible that oil
sanctions against Iran will be lifted,� said Larajani, who
has conducted past negotiations with the United States
and is close to Iran�s supreme spiritual leader, Ayatollah
Ali Khamenei.
Resumption of Relations?
Both Bush and Cheney have worked in the oil industry.
Cheney was the CEO of Halliburton Oil Services and has
a network of senior contacts in the Middle East. Earlier
this year, he called on the Clinton administration to allow
American oil companies to resume business in Iran by
ending sanctions.
Larajani said Bush and Cheney, if sworn in as
president and vice president, could bring a �small change
in U.S. policies� in the Middle East because the
Democrats are �much closer to the Zionist lobby� than the
Republicans.
Larajani said Tehran could re-establish diplomatic
relations with Washington, which were broken off in April
1980 after the November 1979 seizure of the U.S.
Embassy in Tehran, as soon as �the U.S. government
takes sufficient distance from Israel.�
Iran�s deputy oil minister, Hossein
Kazempour-Ardebili, predicted the U.S. oil sanctions
would be lifted within the next year.
�Considering mounting pressures on the U.S.
administration by American oil firms, we expect
Washington to lift sanctions against Iran in the next 12
months,� he said.
�Even a Democratic administration will be under
tremendous pressure to lift sanctions. Considering
Republican election statements, we expect sanctions not
to be renewed in 2001,� Kazempour-Ardeebili said.
Willing to Open Dialogue
In Washington, State Department spokesman Philip
Reeker declined to predict the future of U.S.-Iran
relations.
He reiterated longstanding U.S. concerns about Iran�s
weapons program and involvement in terrorism. He also
noted U.S. willingness to open a dialogue with Iran.
The United States eased sanctions on some Iranian
goods earlier this year.
In a telephone interview with ABCNEWS, a veteran
U.S. oil executive in Texas insisted that a Bush-Cheney
victory would bring an end to oil sanctions. �Virtually
everyone in senior places who really understands the
Middle East has been working for this,� said the
executive, who asked not to be identified.
He added that after a Republican victory, �OPEC
members will be able to work with us� to achieve a
long-sought lower and stable �marker� or yardstick price
for crude oil at levels of around $23 or even $22 per
barrel. At present, Arabian Light, North Sea, West Texas
and most other crude oil varieties are fluctuating around
and above $30 per barrel.
The same oil executive said Ahmed Zaki Yamani, a
former Saudi oil minister who now heads an energy
consultancy in London, is spending the annual Ramadan
fast month in the holy city of Mecca.
There Yamani is believed to be advising 76-year-old
Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah, who effectively runs the
Saudi monarchy because of the the protracted illness of
King Fahd, on long-term policies for the oil-rich kingdom.
Reaching Out to U.S. Oil Companies
President Clinton has said the sanctions against Iran
remain in force because of the country�s support for
terrorism and its acquisition of missiles and other weapons
of mass destruction. The measures constitute a unilateral
U.S. trade embargo.
Then-President Ronald Reagan ordered U.S. oil firms
to quit Libya in 1986, mainly because of the terrorism
issue, after U.S. Air Force planes carried out earlier
reprisal bombings of Libya for terrorist bombings in
Berlin.
However, Libya�s national oil company did not
confiscate U.S. oil company assets in Libya. It has
continued to negotiate with the firms about possible future
return to their formerly lucrative contracts and projects
there.
Libya safeguarded the American oil assets even after
the imposition in the early 1990s of new U.N. and U.S.
sanctions meant to force the extradition of two Libyan
suspects in the December 1988 bombing of Pan Am
Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. The two men were
extradited and are now on trial before a Scottish court in
the Netherlands, resulting in an easing but not a total
relaxation of sanctions.
In a gesture toward the United States, Iran in 1985
signed a $1 billion contract with the American corporation
Conoco to develop two big offshore oilfields in the
Persian Gulf. Although the Clinton White House initially
favored the deal, Conoco was forced by the sanctions
legislation to cancel it. The French company TotalFina
moved in instead, and signed a $600 million deal with Iran
to carry out the same work.
Firms such as TotalFina, Italy�s ENI and Royal
Dutch/Shell defied U.S. legislation threatening action
against non-American firms doing business with Libya and
Iran and have signed major new deals with fresh foreign
investment.
The five-year term of the sanctions expires in August
2001.
In October, Chevron Oil�s vice chairman, Richard
Matzke, said that while lifting of sanctions on Iran was not
imminent, he felt that �we are an awful lot closer than we
were a few years ago.�
MiD-EasT RealitieS - www.MiddleEast.Org
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