Classic case of no winners in Iraqi oil licence auction

A popular conspiracy theory about the US invasion of Iraq was that America wanted to seize control of its oilfields to divide them up with western allies and friends in the boardrooms of “Big Oil”.

The truth is, that was never on the cards.

A return to the “good old days” for western colonial powers in oil-rich parts of the Middle East would never have been tolerated by any legitimate post-war Iraqi government or by the international community.