"Goodwill gesture" keeps the door open to further negotiations ahead of a Feb. 15 deadline, but key points of contention still appear unresolved.
The death of the $27 billion deal would represent a multi-year setback in Iraq’s efforts to boost production of oil, gas, and electricity.
A draft ruling is pending approval by the International Court of Arbitration, with Kurdistan's oil independence potentially hanging in the balance.
Hayyan Abdulghani's leadership team is taking shape, with some high-profile promotions and departures.
Iraq's highest court ruled against stop-gap financial transfers seen as key confidence-building measures in a sputtering rapprochement between Baghdad and Erbil.
Output recovered to nearly pre-pandemic levels, but OPEC-plus policy and infrastructure constraints could keep Iraq from making further production gains in the new year.
Iraq's legal and commercial frameworks have failed to clinch a major refinery investment deal for 15 years, but a new government is poised to try again.
High global prices led to record annual oil revenues for both the federal government and the KRG.
Friday's attack did not cause damage, but it did highlight unresolved security risks to a gas field responsible for most of Kurdistan's electricity feedstock.
Kurdistan's crude is trading at an increasingly steep discount to global benchmark prices. A new policy seeks to put those costs on oil companies.
