Rich in culture, history and resources, the Kurdistan region of Iraq, long brutalized by the Baath government, enjoyed peace, stability and economic development in the aftermath of the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Known as the state within a state, or the “other” Iraq, the region holds an estimated 45 billion barrels of oil and equally colossal levels of gas. Currently, however, there is no oil law that determines control and management over the country’s resources because of differences between the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the Baghdad government. The KRG opposes the yet-to-be passed draft oil law because it would require it to cede too much control to Baghdad. As a result, Iraq lacks the necessary regulatory and legal framework to instill confidence in foreign investors. The country desperately needs to upgrade its energy infrastructure and to ensure the country’s oil wealth is tapped to its full potential (Iraq currently
Dr Ranj Alaaldin is a Visiting Fellow at the Brookings Institution in Doha. He specialises in intrastate conflict, governance and human security issues in the Middle East.
