The economy of Iraq is dominated by the oil sector, which has provided about 99.7% of foreign exchange earnings during its modern history. As of 2021, the oil sector provides about 92% of foreign exchange earnings. Iraq's hitherto agrarian economy underwent rapid development following the 14 July Revolution (1958) which overthrew the Hashemite Iraqi monarchy. It had become the third-largest economy in the Middle East by 1980. This occurred in part because of the Iraqi government's successful industrialization and infrastructure development initiatives in the 1970s, which included irrigation projects, railway and highway construction, and rural electrification.
The Rumaila oil field is a super-giant oil field located in southern Iraq, approximately 20 mi (32 km) from the Kuwaiti border. Discovered in 1953 by the Basrah Petroleum Company (BPC), an associate company of the Iraq Petroleum Company (IPC), the field is estimated to contain 17 billion barrels, which accounts for 12% of Iraq's oil reserves estimated at 143.1 billion barrels. Rumaila is said to be the largest oilfield ever discovered in Iraq and is considered the third largest oil field in the world.
China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (中国石油化工股份有限公司), or Sinopec, is a Chinese oil and gas enterprise based in Beijing. It is listed in Hong Kong and also trades in Shanghai.
Hess Corporation is an American global independent energy company involved in the exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas. It was formed by the merger of Hess Oil and Chemical and Amerada Petroleum in 1968. Leon Hess served as CEO from the early 1960s through 1995, after which his son John B Hess succeeded him as chairman and CEO. The company has agreed to be acquired by rival oil company Chevron.
Sources include: Dow Jones (DJ), New York Times (NYT), Wall Street Journal (WSJ), and the Washington Post (WP).
For further details see the "Energy crisis" series by Facts on File.
Lundin Energy is an independent oil and gas exploration and production company formed from Lundin Oil in 2001 and based in Sweden with focus on operations in Norway.
Entreprise Tunisienne d'Activités Pétrolières (ETAP) is a state-owned industrial and commercial company in Tunisia directly in charge of the petroleum sector as well as the state's partnerships with foreign exploration and production operators.
The 1980s oil glut was a significant surplus of crude oil caused by falling demand following the 1970s energy crisis. The world price of oil had peaked in 1980 at over US$35 per barrel ; it fell in 1986 from $27 to below $10. The glut began in the early 1980s as a result of slowed economic activity in industrial countries due to the crises of the 1970s, especially in 1973 and 1979, and the energy conservation spurred by high fuel prices. The inflation-adjusted real 2004 dollar value of oil fell from an average of $78.2 in 1981 to an average of $26.8 per barrel in 1986.
Crescent Petroleum is the first and largest private upstream oil and gas company in the Middle East. Founded in 1971, Crescent Petroleum is headquartered in the Emirate of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates (UAE), with current operations in both the UAE and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI). As of 2023, Crescent Petroleum and the Iraqi Ministry of Oil have signed three twenty-year contracts as the company focus it efforts in aiding the redevelopment of Iraq.
Perenco is an independent Anglo-French oil and gas company with a headquarters in London and Paris. It conducts exploration and production activities in 16 countries around the globe.
Addax Petroleum was established in 1994 and since August 2009 has been a subsidiary of the Sinopec Group, one of the largest oil and gas producers in China, the biggest oil refiner in Asia, and the third largest worldwide. Addax Petroleum was an international gas and oil production and exploration company mainly focused on the Middle East, the North Sea, and Africa. Since its founding, the company has become one of the largest oil producers in West Africa.
Frontera Energy is a Canadian petroleum exploration and production company in the business of heavy crude oil and natural gas. Its focus is on Colombia and Peru where it holds numerous properties including 38 blocks in the Llanos, Sucre-Co Lower Magdalena and Cesar Valley, Rancheria, Upper and Middle Magdalena Valley, Putumayo Valley, Ucayali and Maranon basins. In early 2010 it was the largest independent oil company operating in South America and in terms of private companies the fastest growing one in Colombia. In 2011 it was responsible for 41% of the growth in oil production in Colombia. In mid-2015 it changed its name from Pacific Rubiales to Pacific Exploration and Production, signalling the diminished importance of the Rubiales oil field in Colombia in the company's total assets and a broader focus in Latin America. When Pacific Exploration and Production filed for bankruptcy protection on April 27, 2016, it listed Pacific E&P Holdings Corp., Meta Petroleum Corp., Pacific Stratus International Energy Ltd., Pacific Stratus Energy Colombia Corp., Pacific Stratus Energy S.A., Pacific Off Shore Peru S.R.L., Pacific Rubiales Guatemala S.A., Pacific Guatemala Energy Corp., PRE-PSIE Coöperatief U.A., Petrominerales Colombia Corp. and Grupo C&C Energia (Barbados) Ltd. as subsidiaries. In June 2017, it renamed itself Frontera Energy, and was relisted on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
Niko Resources is an India- and South East Asia-focused oil and gas exploration and production company that shares ownership of many exploration and development properties with Komodo Energy and Reliance Industries. Though it holds exploration rights to 37,000,000 acres (150,000 km2) of land in 7 countries production currently (2011) only takes place in India and Bangladesh. Major acquisitions include a $310 million November 18, 2009 purchase of Black Gold Energy followed by the 2010 $37.6 million acquisition of Voyager Energy which expanded its presence in Trinidad.
MEG Energy is a pure play Canadian oil sands producer engaged in exploration in Northern Alberta. All of its oil reserves are more than 1,000 feet (300 m) below the surface and so they depend on steam-assisted gravity drainage and associated technology to produce. The company's main thermal project is Christina Lake. 85-megawatt cogeneration plants are used to produce the steam used in SAGD which is required to bring bitumen to the surface. The excess heat and electricity produced at its plants is then sold to Alberta's power grid. Its proven reserves have been independently pegged at 1.7 billion barrels and probable reserves 3.7 billion barrels ; That's significant considering only 300 billion barrels of the 1.6 trillion barrels of bitumen in Alberta is considered recoverable under current technology. The value of those reserves is over $19.8 billion. CNOOC has a minority 16.69% interest in MEG Energy.
Gulf Keystone Petroleum Limited is an independent oil and gas exploration and production company that operates in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. It is also the operator of the Shaikan oil field. The company was listed on the main market of the London Stock Exchange on September 8, 2004. Jon Harris serves as its chief executive officer.
Atrush Field is a Jurassic fractured carbonate oilfield near Dohuk, Iraqi Kurdistan. It was discovered by the Consortium of General Exploration Partners. As of March 12, 2013 the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has exercised its option to acquire a 25% Government Interest of the Atrush Field according to the PSC contract.
Iraq was the world's 5th largest oil producer in 2009, and has the world's fifth largest proven petroleum reserves. Just a fraction of Iraq's known fields are in development, and Iraq may be one of the few places left where vast reserves, proven and unknown, have barely been exploited. Iraq's energy sector is heavily based upon oil, with approximately 94 percent of its energy needs met with petroleum. In addition, crude oil export revenues accounted for over two-thirds of GDP in 2009. Iraq's oil sector has suffered over the past several decades from sanctions and wars, and its oil infrastructure is in need of modernization and investment. As of June 30, 2010, the United States had allocated US$2.05 billion to the Iraqi oil and gas sector to begin this modernization, but ended its direct involvement as of the first quarter of 2008. According to reports by various U.S. government agencies, multilateral institutions and other international organizations, long-term Iraq reconstruction costs could reach $100 billion (US) or higher.
Pearl Petroleum is a five-company consortium consisting of two Middle Eastern oil and gas companies, Dana Gas and Crescent Petroleum, which together are the operator of the Kurdistan Gas Project, in partnership with three major European energy companies: OMV, MOL, and RWE. Pearl Petroleum produces and develops natural gas assets in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
Dana Gas PJSC is a publicly traded natural gas company, based in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates (UAE). Incorporated and listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange in 2005, Dana Gas is the largest non-government owned natural gas company in the Middle East, with operations in Egypt, Iraqi Kurdistan, and the UAE. The company and Crescent Petroleum have equal stakes in the Pearl Petroleum consortium. Hamid Dhia Jafar and Patrick Allman-Ward serve as chairman and chief executive officer of Dana Gas, respectively.
