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Iraq struggles to plug the financing gap
30 September 2015
Baghdad is facing a cash crisis, while losing control of its northern oil assets
Iraq’s oil minister, Adil Abdulmahdi, has overseen a sustained rise in oil output and exports this year that has propelled the country up the roster of Opec’s big guns. It has recovered territory it lost under Saddam Hussein. But a toxic mixture of low oil prices, Kurdish secessionism, and bitter conflict has left Baghdad bereft of cash and struggling to maintain control of its oil and gas resources.
Even as it plots an ambitious growth in export capacity – targeting 3.68mn barrels/day from the Basra oil terminals, a 26% increase on September’s cargoes and a rise on August’s 3.08mn b/d – Iraq’s government finds itself under renewed pressure.
Despite posting highest-ever crude production in the summer, exceeding 4.25mn b/d in July, low oil prices mean that that Iraq’s increased capture of Asian market share has delivered comparatively scant fiscal reward.
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30 September 2015
Baghdad is facing a cash crisis, while losing control of its northern oil assets
Iraq’s oil minister, Adil Abdulmahdi, has overseen a sustained rise in oil output and exports this year that has propelled the country up the roster of Opec’s big guns. It has recovered territory it lost under Saddam Hussein. But a toxic mixture of low oil prices, Kurdish secessionism, and bitter conflict has left Baghdad bereft of cash and struggling to maintain control of its oil and gas resources.
Even as it plots an ambitious growth in export capacity – targeting 3.68mn barrels/day from the Basra oil terminals, a 26% increase on September’s cargoes and a rise on August’s 3.08mn b/d – Iraq’s government finds itself under renewed pressure.
Despite posting highest-ever crude production in the summer, exceeding 4.25mn b/d in July, low oil prices mean that that Iraq’s increased capture of Asian market share has delivered comparatively scant fiscal reward.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
