Top Energy Stories

The Iraqi Kurdistan region's fractious internal politics are threatening to derail the construction of a pipeline that could enable future natural gas exports to Turkey — a potential setback for Europe as it seeks to reduce dependence on Russian energy following the invasion of Ukraine. The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has already signed a contract with the Iraqi Kurdish company KAR Group to expand and extend an existing domestic gas pipeline network, but work on the ground can only move forward with the permission of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) — the political party that controls the eastern half of Iraqi Kurdistan, including the semi-autonomous region's most important gas fields. So far, PUK-controlled security authorities have not allowed KAR physical access to much of the territory included in the pipeline project, preventing surveying and other initial on-the-ground work that the company is otherwise ready to start, according to several local security, political, and industry officials. Read the full story on Iraq Oil Report.

Russia's ambassador to Iraq has no objections to the prospect of Iraqi Kurdistan's potential gas exports to Europe. In an interview with Rudaw, Embrus Kutrashev said, "It is a sovereign right of Iraqi authorities, including Kurdistan Region authorities. If they want to do whatever they want with their gas, they can do it.... Russia does not have the right neither to object nor to approve."

Like many refineries in Iraq, the Samawah oil refinery produces a disproportionate amount of fuel oil rather than light ends, which is one factor contributing to an ongoing fuel shortage crisis. Refinery Director Mohammed Fazah Abid said in an interview with Iraq Oil Report that the Ministry of Oil and Midland Refineries Company have approved a plan to upgrade and expand the facility, including a proposed second refining unit that would double capacity from the current 30,000 barrels per day (bpd). The upgrade is long overdue: a contract to upgrade the Samawah refinery to produce more gasoline was awarded in July 2008, but the project ran into administrative and funding delays and there has been no progress reported until now. Abid discussed the status of work, the current breakdown of refined products from the refinery, and the prospects for other energy investment in Muthanna province. Read the full interview on Iraq Oil Report.

How To Navigate Iraq's Business Environment

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More National News

Suadad al-Salhy for Middle East Eye: Sadr bets on keeping PM Kadhimi and using political limbo to edge out rivals

A week ago, Sadr called on the 40 or so independents elected to parliament to form their own bloc and nominate a prime minister that his alliance - made up of Sadr’s MPs, Sunni parties and the Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP) - would support.

Yet Iraqi political leaders involved in government-formation talks told Middle East Eye that Sadr has little expectation they will do so, and instead is looking at keeping current prime minister Kadhimi in place for six months to a year.

"Sadr is not in a hurry to form a government. Keeping the current situation as it is for six months or a year is one of the solutions now being strongly proposed," a prominent leader of Sadr’s Save the Homeland alliance, who is close to KDP leader Masoud Barzani, told MEE.

Jared Szuba for Al-Monitor: Pentagon: Iran-backed militias, PKK coordinated vs. Turkish troops in Iraq

US military intelligence believes Iran-backed militias have been coordinating with Kurdish guerrillas to launch attacks on Turkey’s military presence in northern Iraq, according to a Pentagon inspector general report released today.

Prominent Iran-backed militias have publicly slammed Turkey’s military operations targeting fighters of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) from the mountains of northern Iraq, citing violations of Iraq's sovereignty.

The militias are also behind a small but increasing number of rocket attacks on Turkish forces in both Iraq and Syria in recent months, according to the declassified report. Some of the strikes in Iraq were carried out “in cooperation with the PKK,” the US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) reported.

... “The DIA assessed that the militias probably will continue to coordinate with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a US-designated foreign terrorist organization, in response to Turkish air and UAV strikes on PKK positions,” the report read.

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