The Eternal flame is one of the most important petroleum features in Iraq. According to history, This flame has broken out since 550 B.C and still inflamed till nowadays in spit of weather challenges like rain, snow and wind. The Eternal flame is a small and rocky land in 'Baba Gurgur' oilfield in Kirkuk.

It was also a place for religious ceremony. people at such ceremony made feasts around the fire as well as women visited Baba Gurgur, for blessing , getting rid from devils and having good wishes. It is believed also that the mud near the eternal flames was used by shepherds on their flocks to protect them from beasts and get ride of devils. This ancient practice probably goes back to the time of fire worshipping.

This burning flames are the result of an emission of natural gas through cracks which burn as soon as it subjected to Oxygen of the air. Ashurian believed that eternal flame is a down world gate where people were punished for their bad deeds by the torture god 'father of flames' according to old serine's language. Crude oil was used in lightening and war during Amoyian ear while Abbasian used it in heating at special and public bathrooms after they distillated it. This method is used till nowadays in eastern bathrooms.

History of Oil Exploration in Iraq
During Ottoman Empire (1886-1880), Turkish Baghdad ruler Midhatt Basha was the first one who invited Germany to explore oil in Iraq. They established refinery in Baquba to refine crude oil of Mindle. In 1902, first oil well was dug by English skills in jeasoug field near Iranian border. It was a good event which attracted other foreign companies to work in Iraq .thus in 1905 French and German companies were tried to explore oil in Al-kayarra field.

Oil Economy / Oil & Gas in Iraq are a property of all Iraqi people /
Iraq's economy is dominated by the oil sector, which has traditionally provided about 95% of foreign exchange earnings. Thus Iraq keeps seeking for increasing it's crude export in spite of the critical situations that Iraq has witnessed during last 40 years. Iraqi oil production topped out in 1979,and has been on a real rollercoaster ride ever since. Production plummeted to roughly 900,000 barrels per day in the early 1980s amid the instability caused by the Iran-Iraq war. And after production peaked at 3 million barrels per day in the late 1980s, the first Gulf War sent output below 300,000 in barrels per day 1991. The second Gulf War disrupted the uptick in Iraqi oil production that occurred in the 1990s. It's worthy mentioned that Iraq is one of the five founder Members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) which signed on an agreement in Baghdad 1960 to establish (OPEC). Crude Oil does not represent the total number of Iraqi national income as it is happened in the Arab Gulf countries. Iraq has started Crude production since 1925. After Iraqi oil nationalization was completed in 1972. Prior to American invasion in 2003, Crude oil production increased to reach more than 3.5 million barrel a day as well as oil refining capacity reached about 500 thousand barrel a day due to large numbers of refineries in Iraq in comparison to Arab countries. Today, Iraqi oil production is just returning to the depressed levels that prevailed just before the war. But Iraq hopefully plan to increase it's crude oil production into 13 million barrels per day in 2014 .

Petroleum Reserves in Iraq

According to latest survey, Iraq has 530 geological structures which indicate that Iraq has huge amount of crud oil. Oil reserves in Iraq will be the largest in the world according to recent geological surveys and seismic data. The Iraqi government has stated that new exploration showed Iraq has the world's largest proven oil reserves, with 150 billion barrels. Officially confirmed reserves rank second largest in the world at approximately 150 billion barrels after Saudi Arabia as well as it is expected that Iraq reserves will exceed the total reserves of all Arab gulf countries. This indicates that Iraq's crude estimates more than 360 billion barrels in the future . bearing in mind ,Iraq crud are exported only from 27 fields among 74 oil and gas fields previously explored which represent wealthy opportunities for investment in Iraq especially in southern governorates which have about 80 billion barrels reserves .