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The Baghdad government has signed a strategic agreement with Masdar, a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Company, to develop at least 2GW of solar photovoltaic (PV) projects in Iraq.

The news that a discreet, but politically well-connected, Saudi company might partner with Schlumberger to develop the Akkas gas field in Iraq’s Western Desert could be a boost to Baghdad’s plans to substantially increase its gas supply, while also firming up the recent rapprochement with Riyadh.

British foreign secretary Dominic Raab met President Barham Salih, Prime Minister Mustapha Kadhimi, foreign minister Fuad Hussein and other officials in Baghdad on 9 June. Raab “reaffirmed the UK's commitment to Iraq” and signed a UK-Iraq strategic partnership, of which details are awaited.

Deputy defence minister Prince Khalid Bin Salman was dispatched to Baghdad on 12 May for talks with President Barham Salih, Prime Minister Mustafa Kadhimi, Council of Representatives (parliament) speaker Mohammed Al-Halbosi and defence minister Jumah Enad Al-Jebori.

Iraqi authorities appear increasingly concerned about voter apathy ahead of elections to the 329-seat Council of Representatives (parliament) on 10 October, with reports that public sector employees have been warned their salaries could be suspended if they fail to renew their voting cards.

The Iranian consulate in Karbala was attacked by protestors on 9 May, following the murder of local activist Ihab Jawad Al-Wazni, who had been a key figure in anti-government protests in late 2019, when there was a wave of demonstrations that spread around the country.

After ExxonMobil last month confirmed one of the industry’s worst-kept secrets, that it was pulling out of the West Qurna-1 (WQ-1) field – the US supermajor intends to exit its 32.7% operator stake by end-June – oil minister Ihsan Abdul Jabbar Ismail said the government was considering buying its stake via state-owned Basra Oil Company (BOC).

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned Turkey’s chargé d’affairs in Baghdad on 3 May to receive a formal protest about a visit by senior Turkish officials to northern Iraq. Turkish defence minister Hulusi Akar visited the Bilic Tepe base in the Kurdistan region on 1 May, along with chief of the General Staff General Yasar Guler and Land Forces commander Umit Dundar.

Not one to be forged by bad news from West Qurna, oil minister Ihsan Abdul Jabbar Ismail told a 3 May press conference that Iraq and  international partners were seeking to invest some $15bn in projects to boost gas output to 4 bcf/d and produce up to 16GW of electricity.

Iraq came second and Iran third, after Russia, among the world’s largest flarers of gas from oil production in 2020, according to the World Bank Group’s new Global Gas Flaring Reduction Partnership (GGFR) annual report.

Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi on 11 April laid the cornerstone for a scheme to expand production capacity at South Refineries Company (SRC)’s Basra refinery by 55,000 b/d. The project includes Iraq’s first fluid catalytic cracker, as well as naphtha hydrotreating units.

GSN Risk Grade – D↓4 Overview Politics: Iraq attained its independence as a kingdom in 1932; it became a republic in 1958. Saddam Hussein’s dictatorial presidency was marked by conflict, including the 1980-88 war with Iran, the 1991 Gulf war and the US-led occupation in 2003, which removed the Baathist regime.

GSN Risk Grade – D↓4 Overview Politics: Disagreements between the autonomous Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) and the federal Iraqi government in Baghdad have been a source of major tensions. The 2005 constitution gave the KRI an identity distinct from Iraq, as a federal entity recognised by Iraq and the United Nations; the 2010 Erbil agreement outlined how power would be shared.

Oil companies have ramped up KRI activity as they continue to report payments bring made by the KRG for current production and overdue sums for past output (known as ‘over-ride’ payments). On 13 April, Norway’s DNO said it had received $54m, of which $35.2m was its share of February exports from the Tawke licence and the rest over-ride payments for 2017 and 2019/20.

Total has agreed in principle to invest in major Iraqi oil and gas developments, providing some welcome relief for Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi’s government. The French major’s move was interpreted as signalling that Iraq could mobilise serious western investment to reduce dependence on Iranian energy imports and overcome its poor record of gas-flaring – allowing combined cycle power plants that operate below capacity to replace electricity imported from the Islamic Republic.