Free Republic

It is now widely accepted that the surge in American troops helped dramatically improve security in Iraq in the last year. But there has been less notice of, or comment on, how the surge has improved the Iraqi oil sector, which contributes more than two-thirds of the country's gross national product and almost 95 percent of the government's revenue, and remains pivotal to the country's development and stabilization. Oil production has risen about 25 percent in Iraq in the past year. It had been flat from 2005 through mid-2007, hovering around 2 million barrels per day before beginning to climb...

Oklahoma oil tops $50 a barrel By Adam WilmothThe Oklahoman Oil coming out of the ground in Oklahoma sold for $50 a barrel for the first time Friday, continuing a rapid run-up that has demolished previous price records. The recent price surge has led to increased gasoline and utility costs, but it also has sparked a boom in Oklahoma's oil patch as producers such as Melvin Moran embrace more expensive technologies in an effort to squeeze out additional oil from existing wells. "At today's prices, if you could increase production by just a barrel a day, you could generate...