A worker turns a valve at the Shirawa oi

A worker turns a valve at the Shirawa oilfield, where oil was first pumped in Iraq in 1927, outside the northern city of Kirkuk 19 January 2004. The security of northern Iraq's oil infrastructure is improving but exports through the region's main pipeline are yet to resume following months of sabotage and general instability, officials said. In December, Iraq exported nearly 1.7 million bpd "through terminals in the south of the country," Iraq's interim Oil Minister Ibrahim Bahr al-Ulum said 19 January, emphasizing the search for new prospects, notably through the rehabilitation of the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline. AFP PHOTO/Karim SAHIB (Photo credit should read KARIM SAHIB/AFP/Getty Images)