Oil dictates invasion of Iraq

THE US and Britain are on the verge of war with Iraq. The pretext for war is to prevent Iraq making “weapons of mass destruction” and to destroy any stocks of such weapons it already possesses.

However, many commentators allege that another US aim is to open Iraq's vast oil reserves for exploitation. What happens next in this crisis may determine what happens to Iraq's oil, where it goes and who makes the resulting profits.

Iraq has the second largest proven oil reserves of any nation at least 112 billion barrels, along with 220 billion barrels of probable and possible resources, and large remaining unexplored areas. This is more than a tenth of the world's entire known oil reserve. Iraq's production costs are amongst the lowest in the world at approximately $1 per barrel, compared with $4 in the US and North Sea, and $2.5 in Saudi Arabia. Iraqi oil is also desirably low in sulphur.