Basra oil fuels fight to control Iraq's economic might

The province sits on as much as 20 percent of the Middle East's oil reserves.

Sam Dagher Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor

It could be an "empire," says one Shiite militia leader. For the provincial governor, Basra's future is shimmering skyscrapers. He wants the Iraqi port city to be another Arab metropolis, perhaps the next Dubai. Many Iraqis – businessmen, criminal bosses, militia commanders, political leaders – have designs on the city, that is vitally important to Iraq's national economy. With its oil proceeds, Basra Province provided Baghdad nearly 90 percent of its budget of $40 million this year. And there is more money to come, if Iraq fully repairs and expands its war-ravaged oil infrastructure. Basra sits on some of the world's largest untapped reserves. In fact, the bulk of Iraq's estimated 200 billion barrels in potential deposits are here. The fight for a stake in Basra's riches is often desperate and violent....

continua / continued