Canberra briefed in 2003 on Iraq oil carve-up plan

THE Howard Government was briefed in May 2003 by BHP Billiton and Tigris Petroleum on their plans to get US Vice-President Dick Cheney, US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and British Prime Minister Tony Blair to support their bid to carve up Iraq's oilfields.

Documents released by the Cole inquiry reveal Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer was told by former British foreign secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind at a meeting on May 19, 2003, in London that BHP and Tigris planned to inject up to $2 billion into Iraqi oilfields. Sir Malcolm, a BHP consultant and long-time associate of Tigris chief Norman Davidson Kelly, told Mr Downer that high-level political support would be required to ensure that the BHP/Tigris plan succeeded.

He told Mr Downer the Australian Government would need to press the BHP/Tigris claim in Washington and Baghdad. Sir Malcolm said he would meet Mr Cheney to discuss the proposal, adding that BHP and Tigris would also lobby Downing Street.

Mr Downer pledged to support the oil plan but stressed the political sensitivities raised by the proposal. A declassified Foreign Affairs document recording the conversation with Sir Malcolm shows Mr Downer said the suggestion of new oilfields could pose problems as it "played into sensitivities over the war". Mr Downer is also recorded as saying: "The Coalition has been clear there would not be blood for oil. The Australian Government said sincerely that it had not joined Coalition forces on the very basis of oil."

The document also reveals that Prime Minister John Howard's chief of staff, Arthur Sinodinos, was briefed by BHP and Tigris about their plans to to develop Iraqi oilfields shortly after former dictator Saddam Hussein was deposed by US-led forces in May 2003. Under the plan, a consortium of BHP, Shell and Tigris would develop the Halfayah oilfield, estimated to contain almost 5 billion barrels of oil. In a separate plan, BHP and Tigris proposed to develop the North Rumaila oilfield, investing $100 million to produce 90,000 barrels of oil a day

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