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Politics

Analysis: Iraq’s 2025 election results

Preliminary results paint a picture of the balance of power in the next Parliament and the dynamics likely to shape government formation and the energy sector.
Security guards stand at the entrance to a polling station in Basra on Nov. 11, 2025. (ALI AL-AQILY/Iraq Oil Report)

The dark horse in a blue suit

A top oil ministry technocrat who survived deBaathification (twice) and defended Baghdad's Daura refinery against insurgents is running a long-shot bid for Iraq's vicious parliament.

Iraq in the Crude World: Part 2

A stunning and revealing examination of oil's indelible impact on the countries that produce it and the people who possess it.

Iraq in the Crude World: Part 1

A stunning and revealing examination of oil's indelible impact on the countries that produce it and the people who possess it.

Iraq’s Oil Politics: Where Agreement Might Be Found

In Iraq, oil contracting and revenue sharing are not simply technical or commercial matters but rather proxies for differing conceptions among Iraq’s communities of the country and their place within it.

2010 budget boosts oil-producing provinces

The $72bn budget awards dollars to oil-producing provinces and sites of pilgrimage. A stern warning is issued to Kurdish authorities in the form of penalties for cutting off exports.

Chaos looms over elections

Protests on the streets of Baghdad as election campaigning delayed and courts rush through appeals of banned candidates

Oil workers protest in Basra

Dispute over labor law, attacks on workers, mark ongoing tension between Iraqi oil workers and the government.

Ten deals makes a happy minister

Iraqi Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani talks to Iraq Oil Report about what the recently signed oil deals means for Iraq, and what is left to do before KRG oil deals get the green light.