Reading through the interview, one gets impressed not only by the brilliant answers of Tariq Shafiq who is a firsthand expert in his field of oil industry and the founding father of the National Oil Company of Iraq, but also by the intelligent and well placed questions of Ruba Husari. The prudent answers of Mr. Shafiq stem from a thorough understanding, not only of the role of oil in the development of Iraq, but also from the intricacies and implications of contracting out the oil fields to foreign oil companies. Without securing the sovereignty of the Federal Government over oil and gas, as the major resources of the country, then neither the sovereignty of the whole Iraqi people over their natural wealth, as demanded by the Constitution, nor efficiency and maximization of development is achievable. Also, the segmentation of oil extraction or production militates against optimization of returns on oil production and disposition for downstream industries. Mr. Shafiq’s answers give a broad and wide technical and economic vision which pinpoints the fatal drawbacks not only of the draft Oil and Gas Laws in their various versions, but also of all the over 50 oil contracts, given to foreign oil companies, i.e., some 40 contracts, signed by the Kurdistan Regional Government, KRG, and the rest by the Government through the federal Ministry of Oil. We may add that the developmental problems associated with depending on a single sector, oil, as a source of income and development falls in the drawbacks of “rentierism” which would result in the perpetuation of the state of underdevelopment. The wide implications of the dangerous and ill-fated oil policies in Iraq cannot be summed up so easily in a small comment like this. Warm thanks to Mr. Tariq Shafiq and many thanks for the interviewer Ruba Husari.