Kurdistan Leverages Oil Amid Baghdad-Iran Tensions

AI Summary

Iran, backed by China and Russia, has been pressuring Iraq to reduce the autonomy of the Kurdistan region and integrate it into a centralized state aligned with Beijing and Moscow's sphere of influence. A senior energy source reveals that keeping Western companies out of Iraqi energy deals is a key strategic objective, with Kurdistan's oil resources serving as a geopolitical lever amid growing Baghdad-Tehran tensions.

For years, Iran -- together with its long-term sponsors China and Russia -- has been increasing pressure on neighbouring Iraq to remove the remaining powers from its semi-autonomous northern region and subsume it as a regular governorate into a single unified country, firmly rooted in Beijing and Moscow’s sphere of influence. The reason for this was underscored exclusively to OilPrice.com by a senior energy source who works closely with Iran’s Petroleum Ministry: “By keeping the West out of energy deals in Iraq, the end of Western…