Budget transfers to Kurdistan have been frozen since May as negotiations to restart oil exports falter.
Production and exports have not suffered major interruptions so far, but exodus of foreign oil workers and border closures highlight risks of disruption.
Political tensions skyrocket after recently announced gas deals, resulting in legal challenges and threats to Kurdistan's budget.
U.S. firms HKN and WesternZagros have signed agreements for upstream gas development at the Miran and Topkhana fields.
Iraq is once again leveraging upstream development to finance gas and power projects.
Cabinet taps state-run Midland Oil Company as operator for fast-track gas field development with help from SLB, but contentious ouster of Ukrzemresurs could spark litigation.
The Basra MP talks about the prospects for and obstacles to energy sector development in southern Iraq, Kirkuk, and Kurdistan.
Hard-liners in Baghdad appear to be rejecting compromise with oil companies in negotiations to reopen the northern pipeline to Turkey.
A veteran of Syria's oil sector — and a political leader in the oil-rich northeast — discusses negotiations with Damascus over the future of the country.
The expiration of a U.S. sanctions waiver on Iranian electricity imports is complicating Baghdad's balancing act between Tehran and Washington, while the government scrambles for power supply ahead of peak demand season.
