After months of sporadic pipeline export sales and legal skirmishes with Baghdad, the KRG is still courting legitimacy on the international market.

While violence has taken Iraq's northern oil sector almost entirely offline, growing production and export capacity in the south is keeping Iraq afloat.

An Iranian ban on Kurdish crude and fuel exports eliminates a major route for companies to monetize production and threatens to further reduce KRG revenues.

The integration of Kirkuk oil fields into Kurdistan's pipeline network promises to escalate tensions with Baghdad and raise difficult questions over how to manage oil flows and revenue.

Preliminary data show June exports were down after two months of consecutive growth, despite increased crude supply.

Despite legal threats from Baghdad and diplomatic pressure from the U.S., the KRG has sold its first pipeline exports for $101 per barrel.

The state-owned Turkish Energy Company now has a 20 percent stake in Exxon's six KRG blocks, giving Turkey a concrete interest in ensuring that oil can be sold by pipeline.

Another tanker has left Turkey with 1 million barrels of crude piped from the KRG, as Erbil and Ankara remain undeterred by Baghdad threats and U.S. objections.

A third export buoy and new platform are now operational, giving Iraq additional southern exports while the northern route remains offline.

ISIS has claimed responsibility for another deadly attack on Iraq's northern energy sector, as security forces struggle to meet the challenge posed by anti-government militants.