Baghdad may have opened a can of worms with its oil and revenue sharing deal with the KRG. Basra, Iraq’s main oil producing hub, and Misan, where oil output is on the rise, are both now threatening to declare themselves regions in order to extract more economic benefit from the revenues generated by the oil produced in their territories.
Basra and Misan’s bid for greater autonomy, and revenue, has been prompted by a perception that Iraq’s central government has been far too generous with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), which will be getting both federal cash as well as revenues from independent oil exports. This comes at the same time as other oil producing provinces’ bid for a higher per barrel payment looks set to be rejected by a cash-strapped federal government. (CONTINUED - 2815 WORDS)
