Iraq begins oil leadership reshuffle, including major corruption arrest

BAGHDAD - Iraq's new government has begun to reshuffle senior personnel in the oil sector as shifts in the political power structure work their way down through the bureaucracy.

The most dramatic change came with the May 30 arrest of Adnan Hamad Hamoud, the former deputy oil minister for refining, who is charged with corruption related to his management of the Baiji refinery. But other changes are also likely to be consequential for oil sector operations, such as mid-level restructuring of personnel at the state-run Basra Oil Company (BOC) — including officials overseeing the Rumaila and Majnoon fields — and a change in leadership at the General Company for Ports of Iraq (GCPI).