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1 1 (April 13, 2005)

handle is hein.crs/crsmthaaatv0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Order Code RS21626 Updated April 13, 2005 CRS Report for Congress Received through the CRS Web Iraq Oil: Reserves, Production, and Potential Revenues Lawrence Kumins Specialist in Energy Policy Resources, Science, and Industry Division Summary Iraq's potential oil wealth remains largely unrealized. Substantial proven reserves exist, and there are likely more resources awaiting discovery. But oil production has been slow to fully recover during the post-Saddam period, and many obstacles stand in the way of achieving a stable export flow. Moreover, refineries are in need of rehabilitation, necessitating imports of gasoline and cooking fuel within Iraq. Despite these difficulties, the existence of vast resources suggests easy exploitation and lucrative export earnings that could help fund Iraq's redevelopment. But the sheer resource size masks the difficulty, described in this paper, of generating export revenues that could fund reconstruction and development and offset several appropriations approved by Congress. This report will be updated as events warrant. Iraq Oil Reserves and Production History. With 115 billion barrels of proven crude oil reserves, Iraq has the world's second-largest endowment of oil, amounting to 11% of the global total. Only 17 of 80 oil fields have been developed; the most significant are Kirkuk in the north and Rumaila in the south. There has been virtually no exploration for many years, suggesting that Iraq may have much more oil than currently estimated. Iraq also has significant proven natural gas reserves; virtually all are undeveloped. As a point of reference, Saudi Arabia, at 260 billion barrels of proven oil reserves, has the largest reserve base and can produce as much as 10.5 million barrels per day (mbd). Iraq's peak production was realized just before its invasion of Kuwait. In July 1990, output reached 3.5 mbd, before exports were halted by an international boycott. After the first Gulf Crisis, oil production fell to about 500,000 barrels per day, an amount sufficient for domestic consumption. With the start of the U.N. Oil-for-Food program under Resolution 986 - first implemented in December 1996 - oil exports increased, although Congressional Research Service + The Library of Congress

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