Iraq Opens Doors To Foreign Investments

A fight between global oil and gas majors for Kurdish oil licences is expected this summer after Ashti Hawrami, the oil minister for Iraq’s Kurdish region, said yesterday that he wants to achieve a production goal of one million barrels a day by 2012.

It signals that Iraq is considering to open its doors to foreign oil investment.

In London yesterday, Dr Hawrami said that the Kurdish region aimed to be the “hub” for Iraq’s future oil industry and would look to sign up to ten exploration contracts by the end of the year.

Kurdish oil production is negligible but the approval of a countrywide petroleum law, which gives the region the right to negotiate its own contracts, is expected to set off an oil rush.