The Iraq National Oil Company (INOC) is a petroleum company founded in 1966 by the Iraqi government. It was empowered to operate all aspects of the oil industry in Iraq except for refining which was already being run by the Oil Refineries Administration (1952) and local distribution which was also already under government control.[1]
In 1961, Iraq passed Public Law 80 whereby Iraq expropriated 95% of the Iraq Petroleum Company's concessions, and went on to announce the intent to form the INOC in 1964. In 1967, Iraq and the Soviet Union signed the Iraq-Soviet Protocol which committed the Soviet Union to give technical and financial aid to the company. In 1967 and 1968, the company's purview was expanded to include areas expropriated from the Iraq Petroleum Company.[1]
Unlike the National Iranian Oil Company, the INOC was forbidden from entering into partnerships or granting concessions to foreign oil companies.[1] Though there was discussion of allowing the French