Transparency Snapshot

Iraq, a nation of 32 million people, holds the fourth largest proven oil reserves in the world, estimated to exceed 115 billion barrels. While Iraq enjoyed a period of relative prosperity and peace in the 1950s and 1960s, mismanagement, a series of wars and human rights abuses denied the public any lasting benefit from these resources. Today, despite its oil reserves, Iraq suffers severe shortages of fuel and energy.

Systematic abuse of the country's vast resources began during the 1980s, followed by decades of authoritarian rule, war and international sanctions. The collapse of the state in the aftermath of the 2003 invasion, and the resulting security and legitimacy vacuum, exacerbated corruption problems in the government.
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Extractive Industries

With proven reserves of over 115 billion bbls of oil and additional estimated reserves of 45 to 100 billion bbls in the previously unexplored western and southern deserts, Iraq holds the planet's single largest untapped pool of traditional (easily extractable) oil.

About 75 percent of Iraq's proven oil reserves are concentrated in the three southern governorates, with 25 percent in the middle and the north. The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) controls about six percent of these northern reserves (or 20 percent, if the Kirkuk area is included).
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