Two Power Centres: How the KDP and PUK Became Different Kinds of Useful
The Kurdistan Region has one flag and is constitutionally one polity, but for nearly two years it has not been…
The 8% Oil Share That Could Define the Limits of SDF Integration and Decentralization
The Syrian Energy Ministry has reportedly reached an agreement with HKN Energy over the Rmeilan oilfields. The deal matters not…
For Iraq, Hormuz Is a Boomerang
Iraq’s oil output dropped from approximately 4.3 million barrels per day before February’s Hormuz closure to around 1.3 to 1.4 million barrels,…
Written by
Arivan
Baghdad Turns to the Printing Press as Oil Revenue Holds Near $1 Billion
Iraq has begun printing money to manage the fiscal crisis triggered by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein confirmed in an interview with Al-Sharqiya television…
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Arivan
Afrin and Qamishli could become transit hubs in two major regional rail corridors
A major shift may be underway around two Syrian Kurdish border geographies: Afrin in the west and Qamishli in the east. For most of the past decade, Afrin in the…
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Written by
Arivan
The Pipeline Deal That Could Remake Iraq’s Oil Map
The 1973 Iraq-Turkey crude oil pipeline agreement, last renewed in 2010, terminates on July 27. Turkey gave formal notice of termination in July 2025 and has kept a draft replacement…
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Arivan
Iraq’s April Oil Revenue: Official Data Confirms a Deeper Drop Than Projected
Iraq’s Oil Ministry has released the official export figures for April, and they land below even the cautious projections we published two weeks ago. Where our reconstruction pointed to somewhere…
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Written by
Arivan
Iraq’s Oil Revenue Has Collapsed. The Question Now Is How Long the State Can Hold.
Iraq entered April having already recorded its worst monthly oil export figure in recent memory. March revenues had fallen to roughly $2 billion on 18 million barrels exported – a…
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Written by
Arivan
Turkey, Syria, and Iraq edge toward a rail corridor that bypasses the KRG
On April 4, 2026, Turkish Transportation Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu announced that Ankara will revive “the railway line from Nusaybin to Qamishli, thus connecting to both Syria and Iraq,” noting that…
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Written by
Arivan
Iraq’s Oil Exports Collapsed by 82% in March as SOMO Scrambles to Build Emergency Alternatives
The war’s first full month wiped out most of Iraq’s seaborne export capacity. The patchwork of fallback routes Baghdad assembled kept some revenue flowing, but March’s earnings covered less than…
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