Southern Iraqi production, which will almost triple to over 6mn b/d, will spearhead this capacity charge, but Northern production, including from Kurdish areas, will also be significant.

However, in a special report, published on 9 October, the IEA warns that a failure to improve oil industry management and achieve a political agreement over control of hydrocarbon resources could have dire implications for production growth. “It is in everyone’s immediate interest to find a permanent agreement on the governance of hydrocarbons and oil and gas revenue sharing,” IEA Chief Economist, Fatih Birol, tells MEES. A long-running dispute between central government in Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) over the latter’s unilaterally negotiated oil contracts has slowed down oil development and contributed to destabilizing Iraq’s body politic. (CONTINUED - 1204 WORDS)