WASHINGTON - A group of senior U.S. Democratic senators on Tuesday urged the Bush administration to try to stop the Iraqi government from awarding short-term service contracts to major oil companies, saying the no-bid deals could inflame sectarian tensions.
Sens. Charles Schumer of New York, John Kerry of Massachusetts and Claire McCaskill of Missouri said that the deals should not be signed until the Iraqi government completes a long-awaited oil revenue sharing agreement among the Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds.
"We can't blame Iraq for its desire to expand its oil production," Schumer said at a news conference. "However signing oil contracts without a revenue sharing law is a recipe for disaster. The glue that was supposed to make the future Iraq stick together was a revenue sharing (agreement) and it is not there."
Iraq's oil ministry on Tuesday said it had completed negotiations on the short-term oil service contracts. The companies involved are Royal Dutch Shell, Shell in partnership with BHP Billiton, BP, Exxon Mobil and Chevron in partnership with Total. Iraq has also been in talks with a consortium of Anadarko, Vitol and Dome.
The U.S. senators wrote a letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urging her to ask the Iraqi government to put off signing any oil contracts until agreement is reached on a national oil law.
"We fear that any such agreements signed by Iraq's Hydrocarbon Ministry without an equitable revenue sharing agreement in place would simply add more fuel to Iraq's civil war," the senators wrote. The deals would heighten tensions in Iraq "at the same time that American servicemembers are fighting night and day to reduce the levels of violence," they said.
The State Department said the United States, which has 146,000 troops in Iraq, has no say in the matter.
"Since the United States has had no involvement in this, I'm not sure on what basis the United States could 'block' the Iraqi government from contracting it the way it sees fit," said State Department spokesman Tom Casey. "It's a decision for the Iraqis to make."
Iraq's cabinet agreed to a draft oil law in February 2007, but it has failed to get it through parliament partly because of disputes between the Kurdistan Regional Government and Baghdad over who will control oil reserves and contracts.
Sens. Charles Schumer of New York, John Kerry of Massachusetts and Claire McCaskill of Missouri said that the deals should not be signed until the Iraqi government completes a long-awaited oil revenue sharing agreement among the Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds.
"We can't blame Iraq for its desire to expand its oil production," Schumer said at a news conference. "However signing oil contracts without a revenue sharing law is a recipe for disaster. The glue that was supposed to make the future Iraq stick together was a revenue sharing (agreement) and it is not there."
Iraq's oil ministry on Tuesday said it had completed negotiations on the short-term oil service contracts. The companies involved are Royal Dutch Shell, Shell in partnership with BHP Billiton, BP, Exxon Mobil and Chevron in partnership with Total. Iraq has also been in talks with a consortium of Anadarko, Vitol and Dome.
The U.S. senators wrote a letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urging her to ask the Iraqi government to put off signing any oil contracts until agreement is reached on a national oil law.
"We fear that any such agreements signed by Iraq's Hydrocarbon Ministry without an equitable revenue sharing agreement in place would simply add more fuel to Iraq's civil war," the senators wrote. The deals would heighten tensions in Iraq "at the same time that American servicemembers are fighting night and day to reduce the levels of violence," they said.
The State Department said the United States, which has 146,000 troops in Iraq, has no say in the matter.
"Since the United States has had no involvement in this, I'm not sure on what basis the United States could 'block' the Iraqi government from contracting it the way it sees fit," said State Department spokesman Tom Casey. "It's a decision for the Iraqis to make."
Iraq's cabinet agreed to a draft oil law in February 2007, but it has failed to get it through parliament partly because of disputes between the Kurdistan Regional Government and Baghdad over who will control oil reserves and contracts.
