Zummar (), also () Zemar or Zumar, is both the name of an Iraqi subdistrict located in north

Nineveh Governorate Nineveh Governorate (; , ) is a governorate in northern Iraq. It has an area of and an estimated population of 2,453,000 people as of 2003. Its largest city and provincial capital is Mosul, which lies across the Tigris river from the ruins of a ...

and of its seat, the town of Zummar. The population is a mix of

Arabs Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of yea ...

and

Kurds Kurds (), or the Kurdish people, are an Iranian peoples, Iranic ethnic group from West Asia. They are indigenous to Kurdistan, which is a geographic region spanning southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Iraq, and northeastern Syri ...

, most of whom work in agriculture. Wheat is the prime crop there. In August 2014, Zummar subdistrict fell to ISIL's hands. In October 2014, Zummar was recaptured by the Kurdish

Peshmerga The Peshmerga () are the internal security forces of Kurdistan Region. According to the Constitution of Iraq, regional governments are responsible for "the establishment and organization of the internal security forces for the region such as p ...

, until 2017 when it was recaptured by Iraqi federal government.

Zummar town

Zummar town is the seat of Zummar subdistrict. It is located 60 km north west of

Mosul Mosul ( ; , , ; ; ; ) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. It is the second largest city in Iraq overall after the capital Baghdad. Situated on the banks of Tigris, the city encloses the ruins of the ...

city at the west bank of the river

Tigris The Tigris ( ; see #Etymology, below) is the eastern of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of the Armenian Highlands through the Syrian Desert, Syrian and Arabia ...

. Its population is 50,000 inhabitants. With the building of the Mosul dam, the town got relocated further south to its current position.

Oil fields

The Zummar subdistrict is rich with oil. It contains two oil fields, both run by

North Oil Company North Oil Company (NOC) () is situated in Kirkuk, Iraq. The North Oil Company is one of the 16 companies comprising the Iraqi Ministry of Oil. Headquartered in Kirkuk, its boundaries extend from the northern borders to the 32.5 degree parall ...

, yield a sort of

heavy crude oil Heavy crude oil (or extra heavy crude oil) is highly viscous oil that cannot easily flow from production wells under normal reservoir conditions. It is referred to as "heavy" because its density or specific gravity is higher than that of light cr ...

. *Ain zala oilfield was explored by a British company in 1939. It is 16 km long and 4 km wide. Production was delayed after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

until 1951 when the Mosul oil company branch of

Iraq Petroleum Company The Iraq Petroleum Company (IPC), formerly known as the Turkish Petroleum Company (TPC), is an oil company that had a virtual monopoly on all oil exploration and production in Iraq between 1925 and 1961. It was jointly owned by some of the world ...

started production with 20,000 barrels per day, but the production degraded later to 5,000 barrels, as it is currently. *Batma oil field was discovered by Mosul oil company, a branch of

1953. The oilfield is 12 km long and 6 km wide. The production commenced in that year with 50,000 barrels per day. The production has been stopped since 1990 due to the United Nations' financial and trade embargo ('sanctions') against Iraq after its invading Kuwait. Resumption of production has been postponed further after the

Iraq War The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...

. Batma is considered a small field compared with other Iraqi fields, where its potential production is not more than 5,000 barrels per day.

References

{{portal bar, Iraq Kurdish settlements in Iraq Populated places in Nineveh Governorate Subdistricts of Iraq Populated places on the Tigris River