Publications

Survey of Energy Resources 2007

Crude Oil and Natural Gas Liquids Country Notes

Iraq

Proved recoverable reserves (crude oil and NGLs, million tonnes)	15 478
Production (crude oil and NGLs, million tonnes, 2005)	89.5
R/P ratio (years)	> 100
Year of first commercial production	1927

Crude oil deposits were discovered near Kirkuk in northern Iraq in 1927, with large-scale production getting under way in 1934-1935 following the construction of export pipelines to the Mediterranean. After World War II more oil fields were discovered and further export lines built. Proved reserves, as quoted by OAPEC, OPEC and all the other standard published sources, remain at 115 billion barrels, third after Saudi Arabia and Iran in the Middle East, and indeed in the world.

Iraq was a founder member of OPEC in 1960 and it is also a member of OAPEC. According to provisional data published by OPEC, crude oil exports amounted to almost 1.5 million b/d in 2005, with 55% destined for the USA and 27% for Western Europe.