Iraq and the politics of oil : an insider's perspective

Was the Iraq war really about oil? As a senior oil advisor for the Office for Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance (ORHA) and briefly as minister of oil, Gary Vogler thought he knew. But while doing research for a book about his experience in Iraq, Vogler discovered that what he knew was not the whole story—or even the true story. The Iraq war did have an oil agenda underlying it, one that Vogler had previously denied. This book is his attempt to set the record straight. Iraq and the Politics of Oil is a fascinating behind-the-scenes account of the role of the US government in the Iraqi oil sector since 2003. Vogler describes the prewar oil planning and the important decisions made during hostilities to get Iraqi oil flowing several months ahead of schedule. He reveals how, amid the instability of 2006 (largely fueled by the arrogance of early US decisions), the fixing of the Bayji Refinery contributed significantly to the success of the oil sector in the Sunni part of northern Iraq during and after the surge. Vogler gives us an expert insider's view of the largest oilfield auctions in the history of the international oil industry, and his account shows how US Forces' focus on a single Iraqi point of failure in 2007 was a primary factor in the record productions and exports of 2012 through 2017. But under the successes so deftly chronicled here, a darker political narrative finally emerges, one that reaches back to the decision to go to war with Iraq. Uncovering it, Vogler revises our understanding of what we were doing in Iraq, even as he gives us a critical, close-up view of that fraught enterprise. "In this book, Gary Vogler tells the story of US involvement in the Iraq oil sector from 2002-2011. Vogler, a 21-year Mobil Oil and ExxonMobil employee, was an insider who was involved in the prewar planning stages and spent over six years in Iraq as a member of the Energy Infrastructure Planning Group (EIPG) and later as a senior oil advisor in the Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Affairs (OHRA). Vogler's book was originally going to be a tribute to the great work he saw from US forces. But in the course of his research, and in looking back on his sometimes tense interactions with Department of Defense and White House staff, Vogler came to understand the darker political side of the role of oil in the decision to go to war with Iraq. It was not, as many thought, merely to secure a steady, indefinite supply of Iraqi oil for the US market, or to secure contracts for US oil companies. The purpose was in fact grander--to rebalance the political map of the Middle East by providing a steady supply of oil to Israel through the Kirkuk-Haifa pipeline, and deny oil to Syria, a purpose which was designed to enrich and empower various international operators in the region who operated below the radar on the periphery of the war effort"--Publisher's description "In this book, Gary Vogler tells the story of US involvement in the Iraq oil sector from 2002-2011. Vogler, a 21-year Mobil Oil and ExxonMobil employee, was an insider who was involved in the prewar planning stages and spent over six years in Iraq as a member of the Energy Infrastructure Planning Group (EIPG) and later as a senior oil advisor in the Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Affairs (OHRA). Vogler's book was originally going to be a tribute to the great work he saw from US forces. But in the course of his research, and in looking back on his sometimes tense interactions with Department of Defense and White House staff, Vogler came to understand the darker political side of the role of oil in the decision to go to war with Iraq. It was not, as many thought, merely to secure a steady, indefinite supply of Iraqi oil for the US market, or to secure contracts for US oil companies. The purpose was in fact grander--to rebalance the political map of the Middle East by providing a steady supply of oil to Israel through the Kirkuk-Haifa pipeline, and deny oil to Syria, a purpose which was designed to enrich and empower various international operators in the region who operated below the radar on the periphery of the war effort" (ed.) There Was An Oil Agenda When The Us Went To War In Iraq In 2003--what The Agenda Was Is Revealed In This Book.