News

December 17, 2009

Iraq’s Oil Potential Now Within Touching Distance As Second Round Contracts Signed

By Martin Clark

Iraq is finally coming into focus for some of the world’s big oil companies. Perhaps more than at any other time since the US-led invasion of 2003, the country’s huge oil wealth is now within grasp, or so it would seem.

The Middle Eastern state is thought to hold the third largest proved oil reserves in the world, behind only Saudi Arabia and Iran, at 115 billion barrels. Given the absence of modern exploration and extraction, however, following years of war and isolation, many industry experts believe that this figure is likely to be far higher.

Certainly Iraq’s second licensing round in mid-December was a huge hit with investors competing fiercely for most of the 10 projects up for grabs. By the end of the...