Iraq's big rebuilding project
Damage to the country has been severe. The recovery needs lots of money and willing investors
It has been a brutal 15 years for Iraq since the US-led invasion. Now, as the country heads towards parliamentary elections in May, its politicians believe Opec's second-biggest oil producer is entering a new phase of growth and rehabilitation. Green shoots are cropping up. The IMF, which in 2016 began a string of loans to Iraq amounting to $18bn, says the country's GDP will rise by 3% this year, following a contraction in 2017. Higher oil prices and exports are helping. Iraq's budget this year envisages a $20bn deficit. But its oil-price assumption is a modest $44 a barrel. If international prices hold around the $70/b level reached in early April-and Iraq keeps exporting at about 3.4m barr
Also in this section
13 March 2025
The spectre of Saudi Arabia’s 2020 market share strategy haunts a suffering OPEC+ as Trump upends the energy world
12 March 2025
Petronas-Eni eyes joint venture to prioritise key gas developments, with huge opportunities for growth in Indonesia and a steady Malaysia portfolio
12 March 2025
Bearish market sentiment and bullish long-term outlook for oil and gas consumption prevails at CERAWeek
11 March 2025
Direct air capture is still in its infancy, but organisations are seeking to leverage global collaborations and AI to discover new materials, with an aim of scaling up the technology and cutting costs
