gal counsel, the company had not followed a "dog in the manger" policy?
The controversy escalated to a new height when on October 23, 1967, President Mostini of Mobil's French subsidiary met with Foreign Minister Giraud. Referring to protests lodged by Exxon and Mobil, Giraud commented that the "two letters had practically identical wording and seemed to have been written by same attorney." According to an account transmitted by the U.S. Embassy in Paris:
He [Giraud] then strongly objected to part of letter raising possibility of legal action against CFP on oil eventually flowing from disputed areas. He asked how this should be interpreted. If this is simply a case of Mobil and Esso lawyers filing protests, French government would do nothing. However, if Mobil and Esso really contemplate legal action, the French government would consider this a declaration of hostilities and take appropriate action against the companies in France. Giraud stated frankly, "This is a threat." . . .
Mostini acknowledged to us that Dica [the French regulatory agency] has unlimited scope for harassing local affiliate, can do "anything and everything under 1928 law."
It was not long, however, before the whole issue became moot, as Iraq moved inexorably toward complete nationalization, including the takeover of IPC's major producing property, the Kirkuk field. In 1964, the government established the Iraq National Oil Co. (INOC) for the express purpose of operating in those areas confiscated from IPC under Public Law 80; and three years later, the newly formed company was authorized to work in the expropriated areas. On June 1, 1972, all of IPC's properties were nationalized, and in March of the following year IPC formally accepted the nationalization. Perhaps because IPC realized that it had a weak case (as the State Department's legal counsel had predicted earlier), the company "desisted from taking legal action to prevent exports of Kirkuk crude." Thus forty-five years after it had brought in its first well in Iraq, the Iraq Petroleum Co. lost its rights in a land that was not only the original source of Mideast oil but remains a repository of "fantastic" reserves.
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