Iraq’s oil windfall

“Iraq Proven Oil Reserves Rise Significantly “  declares the Wall Street Journal, echoing a number of other news sources.

But are they “proven”?

So far, we have only assurances from the Iraq’s oil minister Hussein al-Shahristani:

These aren’t random figures, rather they were the results of deep surveys carried out by the ministry’s oil reservoir company and international companies which signed contracts with Iraq.

But a few people are voicing scepticism, probably because we have seen this kind of sudden good news before.

Higher proven reserves should eventually mean a higher production quota from Opec (Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries), and theoretically more revenue.