Iraqis Wait To See Gains From Country's Oil Boom

ADAM SCHRECK

BAGHDAD (AP) ⿿ Iraq is fast becoming an oil producing powerhouse, but you'd never know that by looking at the faded Unknown Soldier gas station in downtown Baghdad. There's no repair garage or mini-mart, just a cramped office with tattered vinyl couches. Horns blare as a string of waiting cars backs up into busy Sadoun Street, slowing traffic.

Electricity from the power grid is available only for a few hours a day, so a noisy generator burns through 200 liters (53 gallons) of fuel daily just to keep the lights on and pumps running. That eats into what little profit is left over after government-imposed price caps, says manager Anmar Abdul-Sattar.

Like many Iraqis, he sees little reason to celebrate the postwar petroleum gains that have turned Iraq into a leading oil producer. "The country is increasing its oil revenues, but we're not feeling it on the ground," he said.

It's a widely shared sentiment. Frequent power cuts, the state's inability to prevent near-daily bloodshed and yawning gaps in basic services have left ordinary Iraqis convinced they are sharing little in the country's growing oil wealth. Insurgent attacks have killed more than 200 people just since the start of this month.

"There is no electricity, no public services. No respect for the people of Iraq," Mohammed Salem said as he gassed up his taxi at the station, which is named after a monument that once stood nearby. The billions being made off Iraq's oil, Salem believes, are simply "being stolen by government officials and sent to banks outside of Iraq."

Iraq last month crept into second place behind Saudi Arabia among OPEC's top oil exporters, according to the latest figures from the International Energy Agency. The shift marks a symbolic victory over neighboring Iran, long the bloc's No. 2.

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