KRG craves 2022 stability

Having benefitted from improved oil prices and better relations with Baghdad in 2021, Erbil is looking for more of the same

Last year saw welcome stability for Iraqi Kurdistan’s oil sector as it recovered from Covid-related oil price volatility. While some of the thornier issues around oil sales persist, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) benefitted from higher oil prices and regular payments from Baghdad, enabling it to clear a significant portion of its arrears to international operators for missed payments between November 2019 and February 2020. Despite this economic improvement, production levels were largely unchanged from 2021, at c.450,000-460,000bbl/d. But exploration and development efforts could bear fruit in 2022. In the view of Russian emerging markets-focused investment bank Renaissance Capital