More than three decades after they were booted from the country by Saddam Hussein, international oil companies are poised for a return to Iraq where next week they will bid for a slice of the country's vast crude reserves.

Iraq needs the expertise of internationals that can develop its dilapidated oil and gas industry. The country lacks the oil revenues needed for reconstruction following a U.S.-led war that toppled Hussein and tipped the country into chaos.

Discord over the two days of bidding scheduled to begin Monday lies in a struggle between Iraq's various religious and ethnic factions over control of one of the world's largest proven reserves of oil — an estimated 115 billion barrels. And the debate in Baghdad is tinged with a troubled past that includes some of same international companies now back at the table.