Q&A: Hussain al-Shahristani

The two main events that have defined the six-year rule of Hussain al-Shahristani over Iraq’s oil policy are the licensing rounds that led to 18 oil, gas and exploration deals, and the ongoing dispute with Iraq’s Kurdish region over the rights to sign contracts. The latter is at a standstill, Shahristani said in an interview with Iraq Oil Report, stuck now in the ongoing political crisis that has seen an attempt to push Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shahristani ally, out of office. ...