Iraqi Kurdistan begins its recovery after a difficult year
A resurgent energy sector and likely better relations with Baghdad make for a brighter KRI future
The Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) started 2018 in an awful mess. After a misjudged independence referendum in October 2017, the region lost almost half its land—and oil export capacity—as federal forces retook a swath of contested territory, including the oil-rich city of Kirkuk. The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) faced insolvency, and its leadership felt betrayed and isolated. However, the KRG's pipeline exports, which collapsed from around 580,000 bl/d to a post-Kirkuk level of 230,000 bl/d, have since recovered to around 400,000 bl/d. There is even better news ahead: planned upgrades and drilling programmes could add around 100,000 bl/d of new production capacity by the end of 2019.
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