Baghdad’s 16 October reclamation of Kirkuk denied the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) access to around 280,000 b/d of crude production. MEES calculates the lost exports would have realized around $760mn in the subsequent period – around $380mn per month. With the economy overwhelmingly dependent on oil revenues, the impact is devastating.
Further austerity measures are therefore understandable, but the KRG has no good options as to where cuts should fall. Cut public sector salaries and the government’s popularity falls further. Cut payments to IOCs and they stop investing, removing the possibility of essential economic growth. (CONTINUED - 1139 WORDS)
