MISAPPROPRIATION OF IRAQI RESOURCES

Early day motion 1371, tabled 16 January 2006 by Harry Cohen (Labour). Signed by 33 members.

That this House notes the re-broadcast of Between Iraq and a Hard Place on More4 which gave evidence of the theft of Iraq resources since the 2003 invasion as one of the largest in the history of the world; further notes the key findings of the report Crude Designs: The Rip-Off of Iraq's Oil Wealth which states that at an oil price of $40 per barrel, Iraq stands to lose between $74 billion and $194 billion over the lifetime of the proposed contracts, from only the first 12 oilfields to be developed; further notes that these estimates, based on conservative assumptions, represent between two and seven times the current Iraqi government budget; and further notes that under the likely terms of the contracts, oil company rates of return from investing in Iraq would range from 42 per cent. to 162 per cent., far in excess of usual industry minimum target of around 12 per cent. return on investment.

Signatures by party: Labour 22, Liberal Democrat 7, Plaid Cymru 2, Scottish National Party 1, Social Democratic and Labour Party 1.