Politics

Analysis: Iraqi elections approach, with high stakes for energy sector

Political insiders weigh in on potential election outcomes and their implications for the country’s investment climate.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani (center) and Oil Minister Hayyan Abdulghani (right) attend a ceremony to mark the opening of a 50 MW power plant at the Baiji refinery on Aug. 2, 2025. (Photo credit: Oil Ministry media office)

Mar 13, 2018

Kirkuk fields begin to re-start

NOC is taking initial steps to bring some production at Bai Hassan and Avana Dome back online, increasing crude flows to refineries in Kurdistan.

Mar 13, 2018

Budget dispute could spark constitutional showdown

Iraq's president objects to the newly passed 2018 budget law, but it remains unclear whether he has the power to prevent it from taking force.

Mar 9, 2018

IMF opposes budget, putting billions in financing at risk

Arguing that the 2018 budget allocation to Kurdistan is unrealistically low – and objecting to tax cuts – IMF puts major lending program on ice.

Mar 8, 2018

Iraqi Cabinet decisions: Mar. 6, 2018

Whenever the media office of the Council of Ministers releases decisions of the Cabinet, Iraq Oil Report publishes a translation from the original Arabic.

Mar 7, 2018

Q&A: Ibrahim Bahralolom, MP and former oil minister

Following the passage of seminal legislation to resurrect the Iraq National Oil Company, one of the principal authors discusses how it will reshape the country's oil sector.

Mar 5, 2018

Parliament re-establishes Iraq National Oil Company

New legislation could restructure the oil sector, creating a new executive body for field management and limiting the Oil Ministry to strategic policy and regulatory functions.

Mar 4, 2018

2018 budget passes despite Kurdish boycott

Iraq's new $88 billion budget reflects a widening political divide between Baghdad and the Kurdistan region.

Mar 1, 2018

Kirkuk oil still hostage to political stalemates

Kurdistan's export pipeline to Turkey is the key to unlocking stranded Kirkuk production, but Baghdad, Erbil, and Ankara cannot agree on terms.

Feb 27, 2018

Iraqi Cabinet decisions: Feb. 27, 2018

Whenever the media office of the Council of Ministers releases decisions of the Cabinet, Iraq Oil Report publishes a translation from the original Arabic.

Feb 21, 2018

Iraqi Cabinet decisions: Feb. 21, 2018

Whenever the media office of the Council of Ministers releases decisions of the Cabinet, Iraq Oil Report publishes a translation from the original Arabic.