Iraq’s Energy Sector Faces Its Most Important Test in Decades

Iraq’s oil sector has been discussed over the last few years primarily through the lens of production figures, OPEC quotas and reserve estimates. The latter, however, is no longer sufficient or even appropriate, as today’s story is no longer only oil. The current focus should be on a struggle over sovereignty, state authority, regional geopolitics and economic survival. The coming months will prove decisive for the future of Iraq’s hydrocarbon sector. The government in Baghdad is currently attempting to rebuild and centralize an energy industry that has been fragmented for decades by war, corruption, militia influence, regional rivalries and institutional…