Department of Political Science Najah National University The aim of this paper is to investigate the development of the Iraqi oil industry between 1914 and 1982. This will entail a survey:' Iraq's relations with Western oil companies, its role within OPEC, its involvement in the Middle Eastern arena, and its domestic politics. Emphasis will be placed on the evolution of what is today called the Iraqi Petroleum Company against the background of these other developments. Over time, the general trend discerned is one:-: increasing nationalization of oil production, the extent of which -' determined by internal, regional, and global circumstances....