Kirkuk's Oil Crisis
Up until now Kurds have stayed out of the civil war in Iraq. But insurgents targeting the oilfields in Kirkuk are trying to drag them into the conflict. Could civil war spread northwards?
A huge power struggle is being waged for control of Iraq's oil fields. The city of Kirkuk is caught in the middle "crippled with water, fuel and electricity shortages." And now the region is being further destabilised by the presence of Turkish oil companies. Vice President Omar Fatah believes Turkey's central role in refining oil is "the best guarantee for peace. They will protect their business in our country". Arabs are angry that Kurds now control Iraq's oil fields and have invited the Turks in. Babagurger oil field is the largest reserve in the country with 600 billion barrels of oil in its reserves. As a result of growing instability Iraq still has to import "900,000 litres" daily and "completely depends on foreign oil." Babagurger's oil is not the solution to Kirkuk's current situation rather as Karzan Sherabayani states it is "the root of all the problems in Iraq."
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