Fires caused by the escape of natural gas blaze near the Iraq Petroleum Company's oil wells in the Kirkuk District. Beginning with the first discovery of oil in Persia in 1908, foreign powers eyed the region with interest, and international competition over Iraq's potential oil reserves played a role in determining its borders in the wake of World War I, as the British and French both sought access. The controversy surrounding the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003 underscored the continued foreign interest in this vital natural resource. As Peter Maas recounted in Foreign Policy, U.S. troops secured the Iraqi oil ministry in Baghdad as the rest of the city was left to looters, prompting one Iraqi to tell him, "It is all about oil."
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