Oil field
Iraq. One of world's oldest supergiant fields.
Updated March 18, 2026 · View on the live map →
Iraq. One of world's oldest supergiant fields. Discovered 1927. Historically ~450,000 bpd. Feeds Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline. Contested between Baghdad and KRG.
Kirkuk is arguably the most politically contested oil field on earth. Control has shifted between the Iraqi central government and the Kurdistan Regional Government, most dramatically when Peshmerga forces seized it during the 2014 ISIS advance, then lost it when Iraqi forces retook it in 2017 after the Kurdish independence referendum. The city's mixed Arab-Kurdish-Turkmen demographics make it a microcosm of Iraq's ethnic fault lines. Kirkuk oil revenues remain a central issue in Baghdad-Erbil negotiations.
Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government resumed exports through the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline to Turkey on 18 March at ~250 kb/d, with up to 200 kb/d more possible. Iraqi output had fallen to ~1.4 mb/d from ~4.2 mb/d and southern exports (3.4 mb/d pre-war) were halted.