Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraq’s Ambitious Oil Plan Faces One Major Problem

Jun 3, 2019 | Simon Watkins, OilPrice
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The Federal Government of Iraq (FGI) in Baghdad moved swiftly when the U.S. re-imposed sanctions against Iran, ordering its Oil Ministry to breach part of the supply gap by increasing its targets for crude oil production to 6.2 million barrels per day (bpd) by end-2020 and 9 million bpd by end-2023. These targets include oil output from the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan in the country’s north – an area under the leadership of the KRG. Crucially, the KRG also controls a key pipeline in Iraq’s northern export route to Europe via the Turkish port of Ceyhan. All of this is under threat over a row involving budget payments from the FGI to the KRG in exchange for Kurdistan’s co-operation on oil transfers and exports.