Iraq, Iran and the politics of oil

Click here to read the Economist article "Iraq, Iran and the politics of oil". This article discusses how Iraq is intending on upping their production four and a half fold over the next seven years. Iraq, a member of OPEC, has had their quota for oil production kept at par with Iran for a long time, but now they are asking to have their quota even higher than Saudi Arabia (the highest quota). This would be bad news for Iran, who has been kept afloat by crude oil proceeds and has avoided Chinese economic sanctions because of their deal on oil. If Iraq could replace their oil production, then Iran would be left venerable to tough sanctions and finally a UN Security Council maneuver to deter Iran from further enriching Uranium. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recently was in the Middle East trying to get Gulf oil producing countries to reassure that they could make up for any drop in Iranian oil production. All the investment and politics are showing that Iraq would be able to replace Iran if there were sanctions prohibiting them to sell to the UN Security Council members (particularly China, who has been stopping any economic sanctions on Iran). This is important because it shows how important oil is in the global economy and international relations. This article also discusses domestic policy of Iraq, who's oil minister is seeking an easy reelection by promising more oil revenue. And more than anything, this article shows, it really is always about the money. China knows that even if Iran gets the bomb and one or two went missing, they would most likely be used against Israel or the United States, so they are more concerned about keeping the oil flowing. Grade this post.