I thought the Americans controlled Iraq's oil....

Gee, wasn't the whole war about oil???

Iraq gave final approval Sunday to a deal by a Shell-led consortium to develop one of its largest oil fields, marking a crucial step toward the nation's postwar rebuilding by boosting the production of its most lucrative resource.

Royal Dutch Shell PLC and its partner, Malaysia's state-run Petronas, won the right to develop the 12.5 billion barrel Majnoon field last month during Iraq's second postwar bidding round. As part of the deal, Shell and Petronas will pay the Iraqi government a $150-million (U.S.) signing bonus.

At a Baghdad signing ceremony, Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani hailed the deal as a “major step that will transform the region from an area of misery and deprivation into a prosperous one.”