Cabinet approves direct negotiations for a combined upstream and refinery deal that the Oil Ministry has tried to advance for over a decade.
Iraq's state-run Oil Projects Company has helped drive recent progress at Rumaila and the Shuaiba refinery, but key export expansion projects are still far from completion.
Oil Ministry aims for capacity increases in 2024 despite tighter OPEC-plus quota and infrastructure bottlenecks.
Thursday's attack on the gas field — the seventh in two years — caused a fire and forced a shutdown in gas production critical for power supplies in both Kurdistan and federal Iraq.
Iraq's largest refinery has expanded its capacity by 70,000 bpd after long delays related to an unresolved dispute with a contractor.
Baghdad approves temporary funding deal but unresolved oil issues hang over a potential budget law amendment to unlock more reliable financial transfers.
Recent progress in the long-delayed Grand Fao Port project is raising Iraq's hopes of becoming a major international commerce hub.
Nationwide oil sales dropped in 2023 due to the northern pipeline outage, but federal exports hit a four-year high in December.
Iraq's second-largest oil field has a new operator as ExxonMobil moves forward with an agreement to exit the project.
Iraq's marquee initiative to reduce gas flaring is expanding, though uncertainties remain around gas supply.
