In this survey, natural resources in the province are classified into two sections: surface water and minerals.

Surface Water

Surface water includes both natural and human-made rivers. These include the following:

1.     Tigris River. In Basra Province the Tigris River extends from the boundaries of Maysan Province from the north, reaching its confluence with the Euphrates River in Al Qurnah District 47km (29 mi.) downstream. About 24 subsidiary rivers feed into the Tigris for a combined total length of approximately 69,500 km (43,185 mi.). Settlement on both sides of the Tigris is recorded throughout history, a result of the river's source being constant and its banks ferile.

2.     Euphrates River. The Euphrates River currently has two riverbeds in Basra Province. One is the old north riverbed, which enters the province coming from Dhi Qar Province. It then flows eastwards, parallel with the east bank of Al Hammar Marsh, 40 km(24.8 mi.) Inside Basra Province, until it meets the Tigris River in Al Qurnah District. The river width varies from 50 m(164 ft.) when it enters the province to around 200 m(656 ft.) in Al Qurnah.

3.     Sahtt Al-Arab River. The length of the Shatt Al-Arab River from Al Qurnah City to where it flows into the Arabian Gulf/Persian Gulf is around 95 km (59 mi.). Its width expands from Al Qurnah City, where it is about 25 m (82 ft.) wide, to Al Ma'qil Quarter, where it is about 305 m (1,000 ft.), to the Ashar area (457 m/1,499 ft.), to Muhammara City (805 m/2,641 ft.), to Al Fao City (1,600 m/5,249 ft.), and to around 2,500m (8,202 ft.) wide in its final flow to the Gulf.

4.     Al Basra River. The Al Basra River extends to the west side of the Shatt Al-Arab River. It starts from Hareer Village and connects to Garmat Ali River in the north until it ends with the Khor Al Zubair water surface in the south. Its length is around 42 km (26 mi.). Through this river, the waters of the Al Hammar Marsh flow directly into the Arabian Gulf/Persian Gulf.

5.     A number of important new irrigation projects were implemented after 1991. These include:

• Al Iz River. The Al Iz River project, built in 1993, extends on the west side of the Tigris for 32 km (20 mi.) before it flows into the Euphrates, about one km (0.62 mi.) west of the Tigris and Euphrates confluence in Al Qurnah. The Al Iz River project is one of the irrigation projects that caused the marshes to dry out.
• Al-Masab Al-Aam River. The Al-Masab Al-Aam River canal, created in 1992, passes through the western part of the province. The south part of the river canal's flow curves along the west path of the Euphrates until it joins the Al Basra River four km (2.5 mi.) south of Hareer Village. The length of this part of the river is 210 km (130.5 mi.). It controls the irrigation waters and drains them to the Arabian Gulf/Persian Gulf, away from the rivers and marshes.

6. Marshes and Swamps:  The northern parts of Basra Province have both constant and seasonal surface waters in the form of marshes, such as Al Huweiza Marsh, which lies northeast;  Al Qurnah Marsh in the northwest; and Al Hammar Marsh in the west. The marsh areas extend from Basra City to the north of Al Qurnah. These areas lie west of Shatt Al-Arab and are on both sides of the Tigris River.
7. Groudwater: There is little usable groundwater in the eastern part of the province because of the existence of rivers and the high level of salinity, nor is groundwater needed. The opposite is true in the western part of the province, where groundwater plays a pivotal role and is considered an essential source of water dedicated for agricultural purposes and human settlement. The geographical nature of the area allows for storage of large amounts of water that can travel under and near the land surface.

Minerals  

Three different groupings of minerals can be found in Basra province-­­­­oil, natural gas, and other materials:

Oil. Oil is considered one of the most important minerals available for exploitation in Basra Province. The Al Zubair, Al Rumailah, and Nehran Omar fields are areas of current extraction, while the west Qurnah fields and Majnoon fields are not yet exploited. As of this writing, the daily oil extraction amounts to around 2 million barrels a day. Of these. 1,650,000 barrels are exported via ports in the Arabian Gulf/Persian Gulf. In addition, the working fields are connected with strategic pipelines to transport oil to Mediterranean seaports and to Turkey. Basra's reserve is estimated at 65 billion barrels.

1. Natural Gas. Natural gas accompanies oil in all fields. Currently, accurate figures for the amount of natural gas production in the province are not available.
2. Other Materials. Other materials include materials used for construction, such as sand and time (34 million tons available), limestone (30 million tons available), and clay (4.8 million tons available).