But it's not about the oil!

There is an article in today's NYTimes about how four western oil companies (Exxon Mobil, Shell, Total and BP) and some small fry are negotiating with the Oil Ministry (remember, that's the one government office we protected from looters back in '03) for no-bid contracts to service Iraq's largest oil fields.

Although the contracts are small, the companies getting them will have an in when longer-term deals are made. The article notes that the Oil Ministry still has American advisors.

Although they are service contracts rather than a license to develop the fields, the companies are being paid in oil.

The Oil Ministry stated that the companies had been chosen because they had already been advising the ministry for the last two years. Of course, the fact that American troops were keeping the government in place had nothing to do with that.