KRG Budget Calculation

There is often confusion and misunderstanding when analysts and journalists, especially among Kurdistan region observers, try to decipher how the region’s share of the federal budget is calculated. The budget itself is a public document. Being a law ratified by the Iraqi Parliament, it is published annually in the official gazette. However, the document contains a lot of summaries and nuances that are always subject to misunderstanding unless one has…

Thamir Al-Ghadhban

The Chairman of the steering committee that formulated Iraq’s first Integrated National Energy Strategy (INES) and head of the Prime Minister’s Advisory Commission (PMAC), Thamir Al-Ghadhban, explains in an interview in Baghdad with Ruba Husari, editor of Iraq Oil Forum, the formulation, the dynamics and the political risks impacting the strategy. Q: What is the Integrated National Energy Strategy and how did it come about? A: When we say a strategy…

Syria Redrawing ME Energy Map

Syria might not be a major oil or gas producer in the Middle East, but—depending on the outcome of the Syrian uprising—it may determine the shape of the future regional energy map. The country’s geographic location offers Mediterranean access to landlocked entities in search of markets for their hydrocarbons and to countries seeking access to Europe without having to go through Turkey. The opportunities presented to many in the region…