Global oil markets remain volatile ahead of OPEC’s May 25 ministerial meeting on expectations that the producer group and its non-OPEC partners will extend production cuts until the end of 2017. The alliance agreed to reduce production by a collective 1.8 million barrels per day (mb/d) from January to June in a bid to rebalance oversupplied oil markets. Mounting concern
Read MoreIntroduction: With the focus of the international community confined to a great degree to Iran’s nuclear capability, a trend has emerged in the MENA region with more and more countries vying for nuclear technology albeit for peaceful purposes, primarily as a mean to produce electricity preserving its hydrocarbon industry, i.e., the oil gas sector and maximizing its retu
Read MoreAKFA speakers at a seminar on Kurdistan Region's economic challenges and solutions at the University of Kurdistan Hewlêr (UKH), May 3, 2017. (Photo: UKH) ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) - At a seminar in Erbil the American-Kurdistan Friendship Association (AKFA) Wednesday assembled experts in a bid to search for answers to economic challenges the Kurdistan Region faces
Read MoreThe KRG's independence referendum should be treated as a tactical bid to unify the Iraqi Kurds and strengthen their position toward Baghdad, but without jettisoning their gradualist approach. This fall, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) plans to hold a referendum on independence that it says will start a process of secession from Iraq. Despite this clear declaration of
Read MoreThe economic and financial situation in Iraq remains ever challenging, but improving oil prices and the IMF’s Stand-By Arrangement could place the country in an upward trajectory. Incessantly damaged by geopolitical tensions, the Iraqi economy is one that is has endured profound challenges it its journey to recovery. A faint light can however be seen at the end of th
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