Liberal Talk Radio

Two interesting NYT pieces on Iraqi oil over the weekend.

First up, a deal is in the works to distribute oil revenue. This has been a major sticking point, with the Kurds wanting the ability to negotiate independently with oil contractors. Apparently a deal has been made:

But a senior official in the Kurdish regional government also said that a deal was near and hinted that the Kurds had received concessions on how the law would affect existing contracts with oil companies that agreed to work in the North.

This is a key — maybe the key issue affecting stability right now. The Sunnis are afraid that they’re going to get shut out of the game, since the Shia and Kurds sit on most of the oil.

Which brings us to the
second article, indicating that the Sunni may actually be sitting on far more oil than previously thought. Apparently the Saddam-vintage surveys may have underestimated the amount of crude in Western (read: Sunni) Iraq.

Each of these breakthroughs, taken individually, are good news. Taken together, they have the potential to be a real game-changer.