Iraq’s cabinet has named Oil Minister Ihsan Ismaeel as head of the Iraq National Oil Company (INOC) – a government company that oversaw the heyday of Iraq’s oil sector for 30 years until it was subsumed by the oil ministry in 1987 (MEES, 11 May 1987).

Like many of its oil sector ambitions, Iraq’s efforts to relaunch the INOC have faltered. Parliament voted to resurrect the firm in early 2018 (MEES, 9 March 2018), but the country’s supreme court struck down several of the main components of the law. The cabinet is now working to amend it and send it back to parliament for approval. (CONTINUED - 644 WORDS)