IRAQ, 2003

Saddam Hussein was defeated.

After decades of conflict, the people of Kurdistan in Northern Iraq could at last free themselves from his yoke of brutal repression.

Texas-born US Special Forces soldier Nate Jackson, fighting alongside the Kurdish freedom fighters, wins their trust and sees early the future for the region, a secret that for years Saddam had tried to suppress – oil.

He calls in his oldest friend, Kurt Donovan, son and heir to a small exploration company. Kurt discovers more oil than anyone could have imagined – a find that has the potential to change the balance of power worldwide.

Against a backdrop of sectarian instability across the entire Middle East, the clamour to control the massive discovery triggers a chain of events that pitches friend against friend, country against country.

Spanning three continents and involving everyone from heads of State to the man in the street, Pressure Zone is a fictional tale of greed, blackmail, deception and financial manipulation on a global scale.

The story starts in 1988, as the Kurds battle to survive the wrath of the Iraqi administration after Iran, their only ally, sues for peace after eight years of conflict.

After Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait, the first Gulf War gives the Kurds a foothold of autonomy, but even as winners and leaders in Kurdistan emerge, it is clear that a heavy price has been paid in terms of lives and emotions.

After the second Gulf War in 2003, the major oil companies from around the world descend on Iraq on the expectation of rich pickings from the battered remains of Iraq’s own oil industry. However, they are prevented from expanding into Kurdistan’s potential by Baghdad, whose leaders fear that Kurdish economic strength could lead to its independence and the disintegration of Greater Iraq.

Kurt Donovan’s East Star Petroleum – a small wildcat explorer – sign a deal with the Kurds and discover enough oil to potentially change the balance of power in the entire Middle East.

As international oil majors plot to gain a majority control over the company’s shares that are listed on the London AIM Exchange, Kurt Donovan and Nate Jackson find themselves being used as unwilling pawns in the political and economic games that surround the struggle for control.

Stephen Ward