Devolving power in Iraq threatens oil development

A federal Iraq is likely to plunge the country’s vital oil sector into disarray and hamper much-needed investment if decision-making is decentralised, oil officials and analysts said.

Iraq’s interim constitution … could lead to several autonomous zones under which a central government in Baghdad would not have complete control over oil resources. Multinationals would then have to negotiate … with provincial governments, which want a greater share of oil revenues, and the central government. … ” If they sign with a political entity, their contract may not be protected in the long term”

Reuters