Deals in limbo as Oil Ministry fights political headwinds
As populist MPs raise unsubstantiated corruption allegations around oil projects, decision makers are moving cautiously on major initiatives while they beat back political opportunists.
Oil Minister Thamir Ghadhban (third from left), flanked by deputies and senior directors general, hosts MPs and other critics at the State Oil Marketing Organization's headquarters to explain how the oil sale process works on April 9, 2019. (Source: Iraqi Oil Ministry's media office)
BAGHDAD - Six months into Iraqi Oil Minister Thamir Ghadhban’s tenure, his ministry is fighting against major political headwinds as it pursues strategically important deals.
Surrounded by grandstanding politicians who have already raised a variety of unsubstantiated corruption allegations, the Oil Ministry has taken a deliberate approach to two major sets of initiatives that had gained momentum under the previous administration: upstream deals awarded in the ministry’s fifth bidding round, in April 2018; and a massive suite of infrastructure projects that are critical to increasing Iraq’s production and exports.
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