Low Oil Prices Are Making Iraq's Political Crisis Worse

May 22, 2016 | Shwan Zulal
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Iraq is exporting around 3.3 million barrels of oil a day from Basrah in the south and around 500,000 barrels from the Kurdish region through Turkey. However, despite the record levels of export and production, the country’s finances are in a worse shape than a few years ago when production was around 30 percent less.

Low oil prices are already having far-reaching consequences on countries whose economies are largely or almost entirely reliant on oil. Iraq has been more vulnerable than most. Large public sector expansion in the bumper years of oil at $100 per barrel, economic mismanagement, the cost of war on the militant group Islamic State (ISIS) and large-scale corruption are all leading to the possible end of Iraq as we know it.