Big Oil Is Fueling a Rise in Cancer in Iraq's Basra
Publisher: New Lines Magazine
Author(s): Margaux Seigneur and Pauline Gauer
Date: 2025
Topics: Extractive Resources, Governance, Livelihoods, Public Health
Countries: Iraq
In Aradah, a southern Iraqi town of just over 50,000 people, the end of the day arrives quietly, veiled in a haze that seems to rise from the earth itself. The sun lingers low and heavy, casting long shadows across the dusty lanes. The smell of sun-warmed tomatoes rises from crates stacked at market stalls, where vendors call out prices with the ease of routine. A butcher wipes his hands on his apron and returns to trimming lamb hung from metal hooks. Motorcycles zigzag through crowds, their engines humming above the murmur of street chatter. Plastic chairs rest empty outside tea shops, their paint chipped and pale. For a moment, the town might pass for any other — worn, weathered and alive.
But the sky tells a different story.
A thick plume of smoke rises beyond the rooftops, darkening the horizon like a bruise. From every alley and storefront, a pillar of soot can be seen trailing endlessly into the sky. Its source lies just beyond the edge of the city: the gas flares of West Qurna 2, one of Iraq’s largest oil fields, operated by the Russian energy giant Lukoil. The flames never go out. Their orange glow is as constant as the dust.