Iraq reconstruction: Oil
Insurgent attacks have plagued the rebuilding process
Iraqi oil production has increased from zero straight after the war, to current levels of 2.5 million barrels per day (bpd), according to the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA). This figure matches pre-war production levels.
In its oil producing heyday in the late 1970s, the country was producing 3.5 million bpd, but neglect and sanctions left the industry rusting by the late 1990s.
Mike Stinson, the CPA's senior advisor to the Minister of Oil, said the greatest barrier to increasing production has been restoring the oil sector from post-war looting.
Trailers, bulldozers, trucks and electric cabling were taken or stripped of parts. The losses are estimated to run into hundreds of millions of dollars.
Two American companies have been contracted to restore the industry: Kellogg, Brown and Root, a subsidiary of Halliburton; and the Parsons Iraqi Joint Venture.
Another company, Erinys, is providing a mainly-Iraqi security force of 14,000 to guard oil installations.
Fuel queues
According to CPA figures, oil exports have reached just over 1.5 million bpd.
Iraq's oil refineries cannot meet domestic fuel needs
About 80% of exports are shipped by tanker from two ports on the Gulf. Much of the remaining exported oil is pumped through the pipeline linking northern Iraq with Turkey, which has been a target for insurgents.
The main barriers to increasing production are: the required renovation of a water plant in Basra, which will eventually provide supplies used to maintain the pressure in the Rumaila oil field; and improving security in the north, Mr Stinson said.
The country's oil refineries, hit by power cuts, supply problems and downtime for repairs, are operating at an estimated two-thirds of their full capacity, he said.
However, even operating at full capacity, they would be unable to meet domestic fuel demand, and Mr Stinson predicts that Iraq will need to import fuel for at least three years.
Fuel shortages in autumn of 2003 left Iraqis queuing up to two days for fuel.
Correspondents still report queues of several hours in Baghdad, although Mr Stinson said that any queues occurring in the last month had been "very local and of very short duration".
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3605843.stm
water
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3605783.stm
electricity
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3605379.stm
Insurgent attacks have plagued the rebuilding process
Iraqi oil production has increased from zero straight after the war, to current levels of 2.5 million barrels per day (bpd), according to the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA). This figure matches pre-war production levels.
In its oil producing heyday in the late 1970s, the country was producing 3.5 million bpd, but neglect and sanctions left the industry rusting by the late 1990s.
Mike Stinson, the CPA's senior advisor to the Minister of Oil, said the greatest barrier to increasing production has been restoring the oil sector from post-war looting.
Trailers, bulldozers, trucks and electric cabling were taken or stripped of parts. The losses are estimated to run into hundreds of millions of dollars.
Two American companies have been contracted to restore the industry: Kellogg, Brown and Root, a subsidiary of Halliburton; and the Parsons Iraqi Joint Venture.
Another company, Erinys, is providing a mainly-Iraqi security force of 14,000 to guard oil installations.
Fuel queues
According to CPA figures, oil exports have reached just over 1.5 million bpd.
Iraq's oil refineries cannot meet domestic fuel needs
About 80% of exports are shipped by tanker from two ports on the Gulf. Much of the remaining exported oil is pumped through the pipeline linking northern Iraq with Turkey, which has been a target for insurgents.
The main barriers to increasing production are: the required renovation of a water plant in Basra, which will eventually provide supplies used to maintain the pressure in the Rumaila oil field; and improving security in the north, Mr Stinson said.
The country's oil refineries, hit by power cuts, supply problems and downtime for repairs, are operating at an estimated two-thirds of their full capacity, he said.
However, even operating at full capacity, they would be unable to meet domestic fuel demand, and Mr Stinson predicts that Iraq will need to import fuel for at least three years.
Fuel shortages in autumn of 2003 left Iraqis queuing up to two days for fuel.
Correspondents still report queues of several hours in Baghdad, although Mr Stinson said that any queues occurring in the last month had been "very local and of very short duration".
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3605843.stm
water
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3605783.stm
electricity
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3605379.stm
