I think it's fair to say that today's estimates using the latest technology and data cannot be equated with earlier estimates (guesses?) which did not have the benefit of, for example, satellite data and supercomputers, nor can one discount current estimates soley because these earlier "guesstimates" were wrong.

In any event, oil reserves are a finite resource. Sooner or later, we'll run out, and the ever-increasing rates of consumption hasten the date of depletion. The foolish way that our cities have been reconfigured since mid-century has increased our dependence on the automobile. Rather than treating petroleum as a precious resource, we're burning it like there's no tomorrow.

Iraq's proven oil reserves are something in the neighborhood of 115 billion barrels, or about 11% of the known world total of just over 1,000 billion barrels. Iraq's reserves are roughly equal to all of Central & South America and Western Europe combined, and this in a country not much larger -168,753 square miles - than California at 163,707 square miles.

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In any "Great Game," Iraq is a geopolitical prize, and not solely because of her oil.

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