President Barack Obama officially declared the end of US combat operations in Iraq on August 31, but the news from the country continues to be dominated by the ongoing political turmoil and violence. Iraq clearly remains a volatile country and is likely to be so for years to come. What is less obvious, however, is that beneath the unsettled surface, Iraq is an economic giant, slowly but surely awakening after a 30-year slumber.
The first stirring of economic life began last year, when 12 new contracts were awarded to international oil companies to increase production in 10 of Iraq’s grossly under-exploited oil fields.
Iraq’s oil reserves are the fourth largest in the world, after Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Iran, but production today is barely 2.5m barrels a day, making Iraq at best a middle-weight on the international stage. The new contracts should bring a substantial stream of investment in the country’s neglected oil infrastructure, allowing production to rise to more than 10 mb/d by 2020 (the government’s own target is 12 mb/d by 2016).
No comments:
Post a Comment