Foreign oil firms operating in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region have reacted positively to the latest developments in their payments, by announcing plans to increase upstream investment.
Although the new payment regime actually led the latest payments to fall, IOCs value the improved predictability and transparency, not to mention the fact that payments are now in line with contractual obligations. Of course, this assumes that the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) adheres to the payments’ system, which given the escalating political and economic problems it is facing (MEES, 12 February) is far from assured. (CONTINUED - 1430 WORDS)
