In Iraq’s oil-rich south, concerns about the neighbors

BASRA, IRAQ — Iraq will supply the world with its last barrel of oil, according to local lore, and that barrel will come from Basra.

Sitting on an estimated 120 billion barrels of untapped crude, this southern province, tucked between Iran and Kuwait, is key to Iraq's economic future. But local residents and officials worry that they are lagging behind their next-door neighbors, whose infrastructure and oil-drilling capabilities are far more advanced.

As the U.S. military prepares for an end-of-year deadline to leave Iraq, residents here are concerned that the central government in Baghdad will not be able to hold its own against those neighbors, which covet access to the nation's vast resources and under-served markets.  

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Anthony Faiola 09 Aug, 2011

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Source: http://feeds.washingtonpost.com/click.phdo?i=bfa6a6d49085893f1a93276db5645a6c
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