With the future of independent oil supplies from the KRI looking highly precarious, Russia is moving firmly into the last phases of its plan for Iraq
. First, the KRI has significant oil and gas reserves. Second, its troublesome relationship with southern Iraq, governed out of Baghdad, would allow Russia to play the role of mediator between the two parts of the country, giving it leverage over both sides. Third, this leverage could then be used to extend Russia’s grip over southern Iraq too, which has even more oil and gas reserves. And fourth, it would enable Russia to stymie any efforts by the U.S.
However, only one month later, 93% of the people of Iraq’s semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan voted in favour of complete independence from Iraq and chaos ensued, seeing Iranian forces move into the KRI, with Russian support. Only one month after that, Russia effectively took control of the region’s oil sector, and looked to put the squeeze on the Federal Government of Iraq run out of Baghdad.
Part of Russia’s manoeuvring at this point was doing nothing to increase production from West Qurna 2. Crucially for what followed, Lukoil knew back then that it was perfectly capable of producing at least 635,000 bpd on a sustained basis.
From that point, the standoff remained in place, up until recently. According to the Iran source, Lukoil has increased production over the past few weeks from 400,000 bpd to around 480,000 bpd. “From this point it could be increased back above 600,000 bpd in just a few weeks, and it looks like the Russians are serious this time he added,” he said. “With the Iran-Saudi deal, the last part of Russia’s move with China to secure the whole region [Middle East] is in play,” he added.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Is there any real prospect of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine?\n\t\t\tLet our global subject matter experts broaden your perspective with timely insights and opinions you\n\t\t\tcan’t find anywhere else.\n\t\t
Read more »
Is there any real prospect of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine?\n\t\t\tLet our global subject matter experts broaden your perspective with timely insights and opinions you\n\t\t\tcan’t find anywhere else.\n\t\t
Read more »
BBC Trailers - Crazy Rich AgentsFive newbie real estate brokers, risk it all - in the world of luxury real estate
Read more »
The Killers apologise for offending fans in Georgia with Russian 'brother' remarkFans booed frontman Brandon Flowers for asking them to welcome a fan from neighbouring Russia.
Read more »
Russia And Ukraine Trade Blame Over Outages At Zaporizhzhya Nuclear PlantPower disruptions at the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant raise alarms about potential nuclear catastrophe.
Read more »
Russia exploits billion-dollar oil cap loophole\n\t\t\tExpert insights, analysis and smart data help you cut through the noise to spot trends,\n\t\t\trisks and opportunities.\n\t\t\n\t\tJoin over 300,000 Finance professionals who already subscribe to the FT.
Read more »