EPRINC has estimated that Kurdistan is on a path to produce 400,000-500,000 b/d by 2015. But higher rates are possible as the political rivalry between Baghdad and Kurdistan continues to thaw.
Baghdad has allowed exports to begin from two producing Kurdish fields. They are now at 120,000 b/d, and the companies involved are recovering their costs. Disagreements between Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government over control and regulation of the Kurdish petroleum industry remain with two very different approaches to foreign investment.
But Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was elected with Kurdish support, for which he agreed to a long list of regional concerns raised by the Kurdish leadership. A full resolution of the disagreement on petroleum development from the two sides could see Kurdish oil production rise to over 1 million b/d over the next 5 years.
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