Politics

Analysis: Worsening internal rivalries weaken KRG at key political juncture

Conflict between the KDP and PUK has driven dysfunction in Erbil and weakened Kurdish influence in Baghdad as a new government takes power.

Bafel Talabani, president of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (left), meets with newly elected Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi (right), in Baghdad in May 2026. (Photo credit: Prime Minister's Office)

Mar 16, 2016

Iraqi Cabinet decisions: March 15, 2016

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 14, 2016

Kirkuk crude shut in despite export pipeline restart

Politics likely at play with Kurdistan in need of cash from fields under federal control and Baghdad exerting leverage in dispute over oil rights.

Mar 8, 2016

Q&A: Ali al-Allaq, governor of the Central Bank of Iraq

The chief of Iraq’s lynchpin financial institution details the measures being used to prop up Iraq’s budget with its currency reserves.

Mar 8, 2016

Iraqi Cabinet decisions: March 8, 2016

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 2, 2016

Iraqi Cabinet decisions: March 1, 2016

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 23, 2016

Iraqi Cabinet decisions: Feb. 23, 2016

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 17, 2016

New rhetoric underscores entrenched Erbil-Baghdad oil disputes

Dueling statements by Iraqi PM Abadi and the KRG highlight the hard financial and political realities preventing oil and revenue cooperation.

Feb 17, 2016

Iraqi Cabinet decisions: Feb. 16, 2016

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 17, 2016

Rivalries trump resettlement in liberated territory

The town of Sulaiman Bek epitomizes a major challenge facing Iraq: IS has been ousted, but ethno-sectarian politics are preventing displaced civilians from returning.

Feb 4, 2016

KRG slashes payroll to stave off budget collapse

Facing huge deficits and an economic crisis, Kurdistan’s government has little choice but to cut wages and risk further public unrest.