> What extraordinary advantage have US-based oil companies
> obtained as a result of the occupation?
Just because it didn't work out that way doesn't mean the theory wasn't in place at the time. You can't say that the Bush administration didn't do what they did because it didn't work out :-)
My feeling is that "US-based oil companies" is too narrow; what they wanted to happen was for "the market" to be "controlling" that oil, as opposed to some national leader. The ultimate pressure that the US -- and, as leader of the cabal, the rest of the consumers of Middle East oil -- has is to have alternate sources, so a single force, like a President or a family can't wield power unilaterally.
The fear of a repeat of 1973/1974 are still felt today, perhaps even moreso.
/jordan