The original content of Democracy Now! Headlines appears under the Creative
Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 License (United States). For more, including their other
shows and media, visit www.democracynow.org.
June 24, 2009

Iraq to Auction Oil Contracts to Foreign Companies
--------------------------------------------------



The Iraqi government is preparing to sell off large oil contracts to
foreign companies for the first time since nationalizing its oil
industry in 1972. An auction for developing six national oil fields is
scheduled for next week. Companies taking part in the bidding include
Exxon Mobil, Royal Dutch Shell and Russia’s Lukoil. The Wall Street
Journal calls the auction “a welcome-back party for Big Oil.”



.