Iraq oil contracts

Iraq Oil Report has an excellent post on the current negotiations on Iraqi oil fields.
There were supposed to be contracts awarded for 8 oil or gas fields, but only one has materialized (the super-giant Rumaila field, in the south of Iraq, which was won by a consortium involving BP and CNPC, a Chinese company).
The others are as of today in limbo as the companies and the Iraqi goverment could not yet agree. The failure to award any more deals reflects, at least, the risks both international oil companies and the Iraqi Oil ministry face: the foreign companies have to contend with the security, political and legal risks; the ministry needing to not look like they are giving away Iraq’s oil to foreigners.

So, so far, it is difficult to say what the significance of those developments will be, in relation say to the goals of the US invasion regarding the control of Iraqi oil resources.