Well I will never think the same inconsequential thoughts when filling up my gas tank anymore. This book gives you a base of what led to the demise of the failing oil market in the Middle East. This book discusses outside political entaglements, military involvement, and the war all taking its piece of the oil pie.

This book is perfect for the modern citizen trying to understand the impact of oil in Iraq and what led to corruption amongst other things in this country. The author gives you a great understanding without losing your interest or any confusing terms throughout this book.

In this short work Mr. Banco sets out to expose corruption, not just in Baghdad but in Erbil, capital of the Kurdistan Regional Government. This is an important work, as with all of the corruption and scandal in the Iraqi capital, the northern autonomous region is often overlooked by the West, unless one is extolling the virtues of the Kurds. While this is admirable, it also passes over the actually policies of the ruling Kurdish parties. Rampant cronyism and nepotism plague not just the higher levels of the parties themselves but also multiple tiers of the KRG infrastructure.

While Mr. Banco provides a great many examples of this corruption in regards to the oil industry, they are often dry and seemed less like a coherent argument than a list. This takes up a good chunk of the middle portion. However, the last few chapters, dealing with the so called "Islamic State," and the fallout from their occupation were much more interesting and coherent.

Overall, I did enjoy the book but its presentation and structure dragged it down quite a bit.

‘Pipe Dreams’ is an interesting reportage on one of the most complicated areas in the world, Iraqi Kurdistan. This region is one of the richest places in the world but paradoxically this richness is touching only a small elite of the population. Many people are living in refugees camps or in complete poverty. Erin Banco tries to give, throughout the book, the reasons that lead to this dramatic situation.
After the U.S invasion in 2003 and the toppling of Saddam, the West and the Kurdish government promised that a new age of prosperity was over the horizon, but after almost fifteen years nothing has changed. Only a small elite that includes members of the most prominent families in the region, politicians, and members of the Ministry of the Natural Resources have made fortunes. They promised to invest money on health and infrastructures, but most of the money ended in their pockets. A lack of transparency, a predominant climate of corruption at all level have made Iraqi Kurdistan’s economy a crumbling one. Agreements with international companies are signed at close doors, and it’s difficult to track them. However, Kurdish officials put much of the blame not on their lack of transparency and accountability, but on other matters out of control such as the influx of Syrian refugees, the emergence of Isis and the disputes between their federal government and the central government of Baghdad.
Nonetheless, many Kurds are still loyal to the notion of Kurdish independence so fraud and corruption are forgotten amid resentment over Baghdad. For a while, they turned a blind eye to corruption because the region was booming economically, but when the price of oil dropped the entire region faced a strong economic crisis and the rate of unemployment rose dramatically.
The last part if this book is dedicated to Isis’s emergence in 2014 and to peshmerga’s brave resistance. Isis’s plan was to take control of Kurds oil and then sell it to the black market. After the Kurds resistance and international airstrikes, Isis has finally been pushed out of oilfields. Kurds have managed to defend oil wells, pipelines through a great investment in military forces and security and in counterterrorism.
In conclusion, Kurds have been plundered of their oil wealth by their government and by foreign oil companies, but now a new generation of Kurds is aware that things have to change because so many people are living in a miserable condition, almost like animals.

With all the political squabbling,, Kurdistan corruption, and shady government dealings with less-than-honest energy companies that are covered here in this book, I personally would have liked to see a little more attention given to the growing suffering among the people that is the end result of it all. Instead, there were only a few snapshots that provided a just a glimpse into what seems like a yawning gulf between Kurdistan's great potential and the everyday tribulations faced today by the majority of Iraqis who have benefited so tragically little from the great oil resources beneath their very feet.

That being said, Erin Banco has still pulled off an impressive piece here. "Pipe Dreams" manages to be succinct enough to read through in a day, yet also comprehensive enough to provide a solidly sweeping understanding of all the forces and figures that have robbed northern Iraq of so much energy wealth.