Iraq’s crude oil production capacity: the way ahead

This speech, edited for publication with the approval of the author, was given by Thamir Ghadhban, top oil adviser to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, Chairman of the Advisory Commission in the Prime Minister's Office, and two time post-2003 Oil Minister, at the CWC Iraq Petroleum 2009 conference Dec. 7 in London.

The country as a whole and the Ministry of Oil in particular is embarking on a substantial program to build up Iraq’s crude oil production capacity in cooperation with international oil companies. The present environment in Iraq is conducive to carry out such task and the issue itself is of paramount importance to the country and its future. It’s also a hot issue that has become a subject for debate on the national as well as the international level.