Iraq raises oil reserve estimate 24%
Iraq's oil minister on Monday sharply boosted the estimate on the country's proven reserves of oil to 143.1 billion barrels, an almost 25% increase that transforms the war-ravaged nation into the home of the world's second-largest proven reserves of conventional crude oil.
The new figure reflects reserves "that can be extracted by available techniques in the country," Hussain al-Shahristani told reporters, adding that this total is based on reserves in 66 oil fields. He said there "are other areas to be explored that are expected to add" more to the reserve total. (AP)
