Energy

Iraq seeks backup export options as Basra loadings falter

Cabinet orders emergency package for boosting oil sales after dropping to a multi-decade low in May.

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi (center right), Oil Minister Bassim Mohammed Khudair (far left), and Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein (second from left) confer at a Cabinet meeting in Baghdad on June 2, 2026. (Photo credit: Oil Ministry)

Jun 4, 2026

Iraq begins oil leadership reshuffle, including major corruption arrest

As a new government takes power, high-level political shifts are starting to filter down through the leadership ranks of Iraq's oil sector.

Jun 2, 2026

Iraq’s northern exports at risk with imminent expiration of Turkey treaty

The agreement governing the Iraq-Turkey Pipeline is set to expire on July 27, raising the likelihood that Iraq could lose its main wartime oil export outlet and revenue source.

May 29, 2026

Akkas gas field falters despite increasing power needs

Even as wartime supply disruptions push Iraq toward a summertime electricity crisis, the Akkas gas field is producing at a fraction of its potential.

May 23, 2026

Iraq oil output hits new multi-decade low

A trickle of tanker loadings points to an emerging wartime export cadence that has forced over two-thirds of Iraq's production offline.

May 20, 2026

Analysis: Worsening internal rivalries weaken KRG at key political juncture

Conflict between the KDP and PUK has driven dysfunction in Erbil and weakened Kurdish influence in Baghdad as a new government takes power.

May 15, 2026

Zaidi takes power, Khudair confirmed as oil minister

Parliament has approved a majority of Cabinet posts as Ali al-Zaidi becomes Iraq's next prime minister and Bassim Khudair rises from deputy minister to oil minister.

May 8, 2026

U.S. sanctions Maarij, escalating pressure over next Iraqi Cabinet

The first American designation of a sitting senior Oil Ministry official comes as Iraqi leaders negotiate the composition of a new government.

May 6, 2026

Pipeline delays cap Iraq’s northern exports

The Iraqi side of the Iraq-Turkey Pipeline is still months away from coming online — a consequence of years of dysfunction that deprived Iraq of strategic export flexibility.

May 5, 2026

Iraqi oil exports stagnate at two-decade lows as wartime restrictions persist

April oil sales fell to one-twelfth of pre-war volumes as Basra exports restarted and stalled, and northern exports hit a plateau.

Apr 30, 2026

Summer crisis looms as wartime disruptions hit Iraq’s power sector

Iraq's electricity grid has survived a drop in domestic gas feedstock by employing backup measures that are unlikely to meet the challenges of summertime demand spikes.

Apr 19, 2026

Q&A: Bassim Mohammed Khudair, Deputy Oil Minister for Upstream

Iraq's top upstream oil official confirms that production, curtailed by war, is ready to surge back online — but only once ships can reliably resume Basra Gulf export loadings.