A guard keeps watch over the al-Shiaaba oil refinery near Basra, in southern Iraq. Photo: AP
The Economist Intelligence Unit quotes a study that suggests that Iraq’s oil reserves could be almost as large as those of Saudi Arabia, the world’s leader.
But these findings come amid fresh evidence of the monumental difficulty of realising that potential, as bombs in Baghdad left 200 people dead in a single day and Iraqi MPs wrangled over the details of new oil legislation.
Hence President Bush and the US administration’s frustration at not realising in four years its real aim of substantial control over the oil wealth of Iraq.
“The reminder of the scale of Iraq’s unrealised oil wealth has come in the form of a report by IHS, an industry consultant, providing details of existing oil reserves and of more than 400 undrilled prospects and undeveloped discoveries.
“The Iraq Atlas estimates that Iraq has proven reserves of 116bn barrels (slightly higher than the standard industry figure), which could be supplemented by a further 100bn barrels in the barely explored desert region to the west of Baghdad.
“Saudi Arabia’s reserves are put at 264bn barrels, with Iran occupying second place in the world ranking with 138bn barrels.”
For this interesting story about Iraqi oil please click here…
Under these circumstances it seems impossible that peace would return to Iraq in the foreseeable future.
At times one wonders…Is it because of the greed that no lasting solution is being found to the Iraq crisis/tragedy? Isn’t it time to share the ‘spoils’? Or is it too late???
Or, is it that the ‘other’ players are just waiting in the wings for the US to get totally exhausted…and then move on to the kill to claim bigger share???
It is indeed slippery out there in the oilfields!
Swaraaj Chauhan describes his two-decade-long stint as a full-time journalist as eventful, purposeful, and full of joy and excitement. In 1993 he could foresee a different work culture appearing on the horizon, and decided to devote full time to teaching journalism (also, partly, with a desire to give back to the community from where he had enriched himself so much.)
Alongside, he worked for about a year in 1993 for the US State Department’s SPAN magazine, a nearly five-decade-old art and culture monthly magazine promoting US-India relations. It gave him an excellent opportunity to learn about things American, plus the pleasure of playing tennis in the lavish American embassy compound in the heart of New Delhi.
In !995 he joined WWF-India as a full-time media and environment education consultant and worked there for five years travelling a great deal, including to Husum in Germany as a part of the international team to formulate WWF’s Eco-tourism policy.
He taught journalism to honors students in a college affiliated to the University of Delhi, as also at the prestigious Indian Institute of Mass Communication where he lectured on “Development Journalism” to mid-career journalists/Information officers from the SAARC, African, East European and Latin American countries, for eight years.
In 2004 the BBC World Service Trust (BBC WST) selected him as a Trainer/Mentor for India under a European Union project. In 2008/09 He completed another European Union-funded project for the BBC WST related to Disaster Management and media coverage in two eastern States in India — West Bengal and Orissa.
Last year, he spent a couple of months in Australia and enjoyed trekking, and also taught for a while at the University of South Australia.
Recently, he was appointed as a Member of the Board of Studies at Chitkara University in Chandigarh, a beautiful city in North India designed by the famous Swiss/French architect Le Corbusier. He also teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students there.
He loves trekking, especially in the hills, and never misses an opportunity to play a game of tennis. The Western and Indian classical music are always within his reach for instant relaxation.
And last, but not least, is his firm belief in the power of the positive thought to heal oneself and others.