The impacts of the coronavirus pandemic in Iraq are devastating. With a population of over thirty-nine million, Iraq has totaled at least 1.5 million infections and over eighteen thousand deaths since the start of the pandemic. Like much of the Middle East, the vaccination effort in Iraq is progressing at an alarmingly slow rate—only 0.99 percent of Iraq’s population is fully v
Read MoreThe unexpected directive could spur progress toward ending the wasteful and environmentally damaging practice of flaring, but it also raises concerns for oil companies. Kurdistan gives oil companies 18-month deadline to end gas flaring A flare burns at the Taq Taq oil field in 2016. (STAFF/Iraq Oil Report) By LIZZIE PORTER AND RAWAZ TAHIR of Iraq Oil Report Publishe
Read MoreFOREWORD This paper builds on the “Impact of the Oil Crisis and COVID-19 on Iraq’s Fragility” published in August 2020 by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). It explored how the COVID-19 pandemic and diminishing oil revenues are affecting various dimensions of Iraq’s fragility. A series of forthcoming papers will provide more details on key aspects of Iraq
Read MoreA recent Bloomberg news report entitled Iraq Aims to Go Nuclear to Resolve Crippling Power Shortages[1] revealed that Iraq is planning to build 8 nuclear reactors to generate electricity to close an expected electricity supply gap of 50% by 2030. The news report quoted Dr. Kamal Hussain Latif, Chairman of the Iraqi Radioactive Sources Regulatory Authority (IRSRA) saying that th
Read MoreOfficial estimates are that Iraq’s proven reserves of conventional natural gas amount to at least 3.5 trillion cubic meters (tcm), or about 1.5 percent of the world’s total, placing Iraq 13th among global reserve-holders, with around three-quarters of this figure comprising associated gas that is found in the same reservoirs as oil. The International Energy Agency, though, esti
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