Our Latest Publication - Kurdistan Region of Iraq 2011

Since the discovery of first oil at the Baba Gurgur field near Kirkuk, Iraq has been a home to international super-majors and witnessed some of the world’s greatest discoveries. Yet long years of turmoil and promises of huge hydrocarbons wealth were the hallmarks of Iraq’s oil and gas industry before the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003.

Meanwhile, in the stable, semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region in the north, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has been working tirelessly to attract its share of oil and gas investment. In 2011 Kurdistan is now recognised as one of the world’s premier exploration frontiers.

Debates over the legitimacy of contracts between the KRG and oil and gas companies hampered the rise of the Middle East’s newest oil province. Exports were halted in 2009 by the KRG, which claimed the federal government refused to pay outstanding royalties to companies operating in northern Iraq. But in February 2011 the way was cleared by an agreement between the two governments for oil exports to resume. The region is now home to 41 companies from 17 nations, with 37 production-sharing contracts signed so far.

Investment in the Kurdistan Region is establishing the area as one of world’s most exciting and prospective for upstream and services firms of all types and sizes. The Oil & Gas Year Kurdistan Region of Iraq 2011 examines the rise of the region’s oil and gas industry, featuring the politicians and business leaders that are propelling the Kurdistan Region to global hydrocarbons prominence.