Iraq: Kurdish Options Limited in Northern Oil Fields

Early July 11, the Kurdistan Regional Government deployed its peshmerga forces to take control of Iraq's state-owned North Oil Company operations in the Kirkuk and Bai Hassan oil fields, which are located in disputed territory. These fields will theoretically add about 500,000 barrels per day to the Kurdistan Regional Government's production capacity. Their ability to bring it to market, however, will be greatly limited by their current infrastructure and technical capacity, not to mention the security challenges that lie ahead.