Conflict over Kurdistan oil transparency
Political disputes between Erbil and Baghdad have clouded a promising transparency initiative meant to protect Iraq's oil sector from mismanagement and corruption.
Iraq's top oil officials gather at the Al-Rashid Hotel in Baghdad on April 3, 2013, for a celebration of Iraq's latest oil transparency report. Attendees included Deputy Prime Minister for Energy Hussain al-Shahristani (second left); Oil Minister Abdul Karim Luaibi (third left); and Alaa Mohie el-Deen, the head of Iraq's Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (center). (BEN VAN HEUVELEN/Iraq Oil Report/Metrography)
ERBIL/BAGHDAD - When top Iraqi officials gathered on April 3 at Baghdad's Al-Rashid Hotel to celebrate the country's latest steps toward oil sector transparency, they marked the occasion with patriotic songs and optimistic speeches. But one key element was missing: Kurdistan.
Over the past year, Iraq's Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (IEITI) has struggled to incorporate the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region into its latest report, which sheds light on the country's 2010 production and sale of oil.
Login to your account
Subscribe for news access
Annual News subscribers receive access to the full archive of Iraq Oil Report articles.
