For the past year an ostensibly grassroots movement with ties to Iran-aligned parties has laid political groundwork for Iraq to embrace China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
Mohammed Shia al-Sudani formed a government and took office as prime minister, providing initial details on his program for Iraq's energy sector.
Kurdistan's contracts with Addax, ShaMaran, and Gulf Keystone have been ruled invalid; cases against Dana Gas and Gazprom Neft are ongoing.
Turkey has long targeted Kurdish separatist bases in the remote Qandil mountains, but recent cross-border strikes are also hitting near population centers.
Violent political disputes bewteen Kurdistan's ruling parties are undermining their leverage in Baghdad at a pivotal time of government formation.
As protesters in Iran denounce the government, Iran's military escalates its cross-border campaign against Kurdish parties accused of supporting the unrest.
The Federal Supreme Court appeared to end Oil Minister Ihsan Ismaael's fledgling efforts to create an Iraqi National Oil Company, ruling its legal foundations "invalid."
Gazprom Neft sends lawyer to court, bucking trend of companies ignoring Oil Ministry lawsuits seeking to invalidate KRG oil contracts.
The U.S. company joins a growing list of blue-chip oil services firms bowing to the Oil Ministry's pressure campaign against the KRG energy sector.
As political crisis and escalating violence threaten the stability of the state, followers of Sadr have also started protests at some oil fields.
