Having already started the year in a fragile position, Iraq entered 2020’s oil price crisis under visibly different circumstances to the previous crash of 2014-15; In 2015, Iraq was the world’s second-largest contributor to global liquids growth accounting for approximately 75% of OPEC production growth. The launch of a new crude grade – Basra Heavy and the build-out of new e
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As the deadline for the U.S. to renew its waiver on Iraq importing gas and electricity from Iran approaches later this month, the three key players in this ongoing geopolitical saga have been preparing for all possible outcomes. As always in the global hydrocarbons markets, particularly in the Middle East, nothing is what it seems on first sight, with each of the main countries
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This report was commissioned by UN Environment’s Economy Division in cooperation with Frankfurt School-UNEP Collaborating Centre for Climate & Sustainable Energy Finance and produced in collaboration with BloombergNEF. CONCEPT AND EDITORIAL OVERSIGHT Angus McCrone (Lead Author, Chief Editor) Ulf Moslener (Lead Editor) Francoise d’Estais Christine Gr
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Last month, protests broke out in Basra after the Iranian government cut one-third of the total electricityused by Iraq’s second-largest city. Demonstrations against power shortages and other longstanding grievances such as unemployment quickly spread throughout Iraq’s Shia-majority south, leading Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to dismiss his minister of electricity. Ir
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As Baghdad prepares to send large back payments to Tehran, any misappropriation could threaten the flow of electricity to Iraq and bolster sanctioned entities in Iran. Iraq and Iran's close trading ties are heavily unbalanced in Tehran's favor—$6.5 billion of Iranian exports to Iraq versus $60 million in the other direction. This disparity extends to electricity, where Iran
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