The oil revenues on which Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) depends dropped dramatically in 2020. Net revenues, after subtracting a range of payment obligations, fell by nearly 50%, and the fall would have been greater still had the KRG not sold more oil to trading houses in advance. These prepayment deals helped alleviate the KRG’s chronic cashflow problems, but only by mortgaging future revenues.
The full picture of the KRG’s 2020 oil finances emerged this week with the release of its Q4 report on oil export revenues as audited by Deloitte. They made for grim reading, with the government netting just $510mn in Q4, bringing full year oil export revenues to $2.35bn. (CONTINUED - 1297 WORDS)
