U.S. energy companies are "entitled" to some of Iraq's crude because of the large number of American troops that lost their lives fighting in the country and the U.S. taxpayer money spent in Iraq.
Oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens also told the Congressional Natural Gas Caucus, complained that the Iraqi government has awarded contracts to foreign companies, particularly Chinese firms, to develop Iraq's vast reserves while American companies have mostly been shut out. "They're opening them (oil fields) up to other companies all over the world ... We're entitled to it," Pickens said of Iraq's OIL.
http://in.reuters.com/article/oilRpt/idINN2149238420091021