Deals with Iran disrupts oil investments in Khanaqin

Shafaq News / A government source revealed, on Tuesday, the reasons behind disrupting the investment of Khanaqin oil fields, stressing that these fields contains a 15 years reserve of oil, in addition to a quantity of gas enough for more than 35 years.

The source, who preferred to remain anonymous due to the sensitivity of the information, told Shafaq news agency that the disruption of the investment in Khanaqin oil fields, which belongs to Midland Oil Company, results from agreements between the Iraqi and Iranian sides, the existence of joint oil fields between Iran and Iraq and the failure to reach agreements to resolve this issue.

 The source indicated that the unjust oil policies have caused the deprivation of Khanaqin and other governorates in Iraq from a huge amount of natural resources.

The source said that Khanaqin, 105 km northeast of Baquba, is the second largest oil city in Iraq after the city of Kirkuk, and it previously contained "Al-Wand Refinery" with a production capacity of 12,000 barrels per day.

Khanaqin is one of the richest disputed areas between Kurdistan Regional government and the federal government, with its natural and economic resources. The eight-year war between Iraq and Iran in the 1980s caused the destruction of most vital installations, the closure of several oil fields. More than 6000 barrels of oil are produced daily in Khanaqin, a major fraction of it goes Baghdad and southern Iraq without giving any entitlements or allocating any of the petro-dollar revenues to the citizens of Khanaqin.