An intense debate is going on inside Iraq about the future of its oil industry. That such a debate should be going on at all is encouraging and a sign that at last the security situation may be getting better and the government more established.
Iraq has colossal crude oil reserves, some being currently exploited, some discovered but not yet developed and some, in the western desert area not even mapped and explored, but known to be present on a huge scale.
The volumes are so big that they could exceed those of Saudi Arabia, hitherto reckoned as the most richly endowed oil-producing nation. Saudi Arabia's 264 billion barrels of proven oil reserves could be out-classed by Iraq's possible 350 billion barrels, according to the latest authoritative estimates.