Iraq has been at the center of many a Middle East conflict in the region’s contemporary history. The country has endured years of violence since the U.S. led invasion in 2003, which caused hundreds of thousands of casualties and severely damaged its infrastructure. The war against ISIS was the most recent conflict, a conflict that ruined historical cities such as Mosul. However, Iraq’s natural wealth in the form of oil provides the necessary income to rebuild the country. Its energy sector is one of the few bright spots, and oil production has increased significantly over the years despite internal divisions between Sunnis, Shi’as and Kurds. Iraq’s oil industry has significantly benefitted from the relative stability in the south where the bulk of its oil is produced. Production reached almost 5 million barrels per day in 2018. Also, Baghdad received quota exemptions from OPEC, while most of the member states […]