Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraqi Kurds’ Ambitions Tied to Ability to Keep Energy Sector on Track

Jul 30, 2017 | Robin Mills, The National
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This month a new version of Finding Neverland emerged. The star of this instalment was not Johnny Depp or Kate Winslet, but an Italian-registered crude oil tanker. The Neverland, carrying oil from the Kurdish region of Iraq, disappeared off Canada on June 30 after the Iraq oil ministry initiated legal action, and reappeared empty, near Malta, on July 21. The timing is interesting: just after the declaration of victory over ISIL in Mosul and ahead of the planned referendum on Kurdish independence. Whether the Kurdish region stays within Iraq in some form or becomes independent, oil is both its lifeblood and a dangerous drug.