Bridge over the Tigris River in Baghdad
Oil price recovery stymies Iraq's reform hopes
The short-term boost to government coffers from crude’s rally will likely postpone any significant changes
“There is a need for reform, but, as long as oil prices are high, I cannot see that happening.” So says Ahmed Tabaqchali, chief investment officer of the Iraq fund at fund management firm Asia Frontier Capital (AFC), speaking on a June podcast organised by political risk consultancy Menas Associates. In the teeth of what the World Bank warned in September last year was the risk of an “economic meltdown” in Iraq due to the pandemic-led collapse in oil prices, Iraqi finance minister Ali Allawi and other reformist elements drafted two white papers, “one laying out the diagnosis of why Iraq was in such a profound pickle, and the second laying out both micro and macro plans for economic reform”,
Also in this section
24 March 2026
It is an unusual story of out with the new and in with the old, as America First Refining shows the US going back to trusted energy security developments
23 March 2026
A complex and sometimes contradictory web of factors that include unpredictable oil prices, the globalisation of LNG markets, the expansion of Middle Eastern sovereign capital and the growth of datacentre demand will shape the energy landscape beyond 2026
23 March 2026
The Strait of Hormuz crisis highlights how key waterways can become global chokepoints
20 March 2026
Attacks on key oil and LNG assets across the Gulf mean a prolonged supply disruption, with damage to Qatar’s export capacity undermining confidence in the global gas system
