The issue of producing shared or joint fields that straddle borders between Iraq and its neighbors is not new. It’s actually several decades old. The first example was the case of Naft Khana and Naft Shah oil fields, the names are for the parts of a single anticlinal structure extending across the border between Iraq and Iran. Many other examples are present such as the Dahlaran-North Abu Ghirab and Fauqa joint oil fields straddling the borders between Iran and Iraq. Those three examples are for oil fields developed and produced independently in each country without coordination, cooperation and of course unitization. This status of independent development and production has also prevailed in the case of joint bordering fields as they are named in Iraq, the South Rumail-Ratqa and Safwan-Abdali with Kuwait which have been mentioned by Ruba Husari.
Tariq Shafiq is right in addressing both the politicians and oil technocrats. I say this based on the bitter experience of the past years when Iraq and its oil rich neighboring countries had to compete in the development of their parts of the joint oil fields. Oil technocrats had to work under pressure, lack of information about the extent and properties of the field on the other side, and most important lack of knowledge of its development plan and actual production level. This of course resulted in un-optimum development whether in terms of recovery, cost or efforts spent. It posed an awkward situation to the oil technocrats where preservation of Public Property, i.e Oil, was at stake as a result of migration of oil from one side to the other. The situation was further exasperated because of the abnormal environment that prevailed most of the time, especially during the eight years of the Iraq-Iran war during which availability of resources became scarce with time, thus limiting oil operation on the Iraqi side. Oil activities on both sides became a source of friction that escalated in 1990 and became a volatile factor leading to the deterioration of relations between Iraq and Kuwait. In short, independent development of joint bordering oil fields led to tension in relations with lamentable consequences. Hence, the call on politicians to settle and solve this task stems from the wisdom that cooperation and coordination is the alternative win-win solution to competition. It could lead to strengthening of relations on one hand, and an optimum development of the shared fields on both sides of the border, on the other.