oil was discovred in iraq on october 14 ,1927,in kirkuk,as often happens in the middle east,the event was violent and unexpected.shortly after midnight,a worker decided to lift the drilling bit from a 1,500 foot hole to clean the cutting.what came up with the bit was a gusher spouting gas and oil 140 feet into the air,it took ten days to cap the well that was gushing 80,000 barrels of oil a day,and creating a swift-flowing black river more than 100 feet across,a new era began that day for all iraq.