Iraq’s Wealth Going Abroad: An Oil Deal Opens a Major Debate
Are we looking at an ordinary economic deal… or another case of Iraq’s wealth being drained away?
More than a month ago, an agreement between Iraq and the United States was announced, reportedly involving the allocation of 500,000 barrels of oil per day to strengthen the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
The numbers alone are enough to raise questions:
500,000 barrels per day
Approximately 15 million barrels per month
According to the figures cited in the report, if the revenues generated from this volume were invested domestically, they could have contributed to financing the salaries of approximately 256,795 young Iraqis, at a monthly salary of 500,000 Iraqi dinars for an entire year—while also funding projects in schools, hospitals, roads, factories, energy, and infrastructure.
But the more important political question is:
Why are such massive quantities of Iraqi oil being directed toward strengthening the U.S. strategic reserve while Iraqi provinces continue to face accumulated economic and public-service crises? ⁉️
What is particularly striking is that the comparison with the Chinese agreement concluded under former Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi is once again reopening the debate.
The Chinese agreement involved supplying 100,000 barrels of oil per day in exchange for Chinese companies carrying out projects involving schools, roads, hospitals, factories, bridges, and electricity—projects that could have created jobs and expanded Iraq’s infrastructure.
At the time, many voices were raised under the slogan:
“Take Back the Homeland.”
Today, with discussions about allocating a quantity five times larger to a foreign party, a more uncomfortable question emerges:
Where have the voices defending Iraq’s economic sovereignty gone?
Latest Developments:
The latest reports concerning Ali al-Zeidi’s visit to Washington and recent developments in the oil sector indicate that the total value of energy agreements and memoranda of understanding signed with U.S. companies has exceeded $200 billion.
Meanwhile, Iraq’s Ministry of Oil says the country’s exports to global markets have returned to approximately 2 million barrels per day in August.
Amid these massive figures and billion-dollar agreements, the real question remains:
How much of this wealth will actually return to the Iraqi people?
And will Iraq’s oil resources become a driver of national development… or a tool for financing economic interests beyond its borders?