CarolC - 27 Nov 05 - 05:48 PM

On the subject of who owns what, here are some of the companies listed in your link, Teribus...

Andarko Petroleum
Small Independent Operator - Incorporated with head office in Texas, this excerpt from their Home Page:

"What We Do
Oil and gas exploration and production is our business - our only business. We're focused on the games we can win. And we're committed to exploration and building upon our proven track record in unconventional resources where we have a global competitive advantage (tight gas, fractured reservoirs, coalbed natural gas and enhanced oil recovery)."   

Now taking into account what was stated regarding possible condition of the Iraqi fields I can easily see why a company that specialises in enhanced oil recovery would be of interest to the Iraqi Oil Ministry.

Dome Petroleum was taken over by Amoco Canada in 1988. BP and Amoco merged in 1998, but in truth it was a BP take-over, the name BP-Amoco didn't last too long and for a number of years now it has just been BP, so I wondered why BP would drop the well known name Amoco yet keep the independent name of a small Canadian company. Of course they didn't - CarolC in her rush to print picked the wrong Dome Petroleum - try this one Carol

Dome Petroleum Services Co.
Al Wehda Quarter
District 904, Street 36, House 5
They also have registered offices in Basra and Kirkuk.

Vitol SA Inc
CarolC informs us with the obligatory link that "The president and Chief Executive Officer of Vitol is http://www.gts.gov.sg/speaker.htm#sp10Ian Taylor (British, lives in London)"

Well Carol C, to quote the Duke of Wellington, " Just because a man is born in a stable it does not make him a horse"

Vitol is a Group of affiliated international oil and gas trading companies incorporated in the Netherlands, in Rotterdam to be exact. So not British, sorry about that.

Tigris Petroleum is actually Australian - founded in 2000 by Norman Davidson Kelly, Alan M. Taylor, both ex-BHP executives specialising in the middle-east, along with Alain Lechevalier (ex-Total where he was Vice-President of Middle-East Exploration) and finally Gonzagues Defforges also ex-Total.

BHP Billiton is a joint venture based in Australia (Another member of the "coalition") and the UK.

ENI is actually THE major Italian Oil Company with its head office in Milan (Googling away CarolC did you only just manage to find an address in Texas (US) for ENI the largest Company in Italy?). I didn't have to look these guys up I have worked for them in the past and am currently working with them in a JV. (Italian so a coalition partner)

Repsol is THE Spanish National Oil Company. (Spain was another member of the coalition at the beginning.)

Sonatrach's Registered Office is located in The British Virgin Islands.

And of course, we all know about Shell Oil. What do you know about Shell Oil Carol? If it is as much as you knew about ENI then you really should go back to your sources, What Shell has been awarded the contract? There are quite a number of them.

So CarolC I make that:

- 1 small independent American oil company as opposed to the four (including 1 major) that you incorrectly turned up.

- No UK based Companies, as opposed to the five that you incorrectly turned up.

- 1 Turkish Company

- 1 Italian Company

- 2 Australian Companies

- 2 Dutch Companies

- 1 Spanish Company

- 1 Company registered in the British Virgin Islands

- 1 Malaysian Company

- 1 Indonesian

- 2 Russian Companies

- 1 Chinese Oil Company

- 1 Canadian Company

- 1 Indian Oil Company

- 1 Iraqi Company