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"One interesting phenomenon that is emerging from Iraqi efforts to increase oil production is the emergence of US oil service companies -- Halliburton, Baker Hughes, Weatherford International and Schlumberger – as the big winners. A combination of political pressures that favored anybody but the American oil companies and razor-thin opportunities for profits ($1.15 barrel) left US corporations with few prime contracts for oil. As the actual work starts, however, it is US oil service companies with the requisite technical expertise and equipment already in place that are winning the bulk of the actual drilling contracts. Not only are the US companies earning large profits up front, they are foregoing the risk that Iraq may not remain stable enough to fulfill its lofty production goals."
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