It should be a moment of pride for the Nour Al-Maliki government. Iraq’s oil production crossed three million barrels per day - the last time production was so high was in 1979, when 3.49 million barrels per day rolled out of the country’s oil wells just as President Saddam Hussain came to power. READ MORE HERE

Around 11 million SMEs remain unserved or underserved in the Middle East, presenting a massive USD15-billion opportunity for the banking industry. READ MORE HERE

Why did Exxon strike a deal with Kurdistan at the cost of upsetting Baghdad? Because Kurdistan offered up one of the greatest oil basins in the world, roughly half the size of Abu Dhabi. READ MORE HERE

Which regional companies and countries stand to lose in the event that Iran closes the Strait of Hormuz? Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s takes a look. READ MORE HERE

It’s a crisis that won’t go away. While the region is no stranger to Israelis and Iranians trading insults and threats, Tel Aviv’s latest hue and cry over Iran’s nuclear ambition refuses to die down.

Recent bombing attacks on Israeli embassies in New Dehli, Tbilisi (Georgia) and Bangkok was blamed on Iran - claims denied by Tehran - have frayed nerves and the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad did nothing to soothe them by attending an event that highlighted Iran’s “nuclear achievements” on Wednesday.

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Iraq has disclosed detailed information about the US$ 41 billion in revenue it received from oil and gas exports in 2009. Iraq’s disclosure of the figures follows the country’s commitment to the EITI standard, the global standard for transparency of resource revenues. The revenues are published in Iraq’s first EITI Report, which detailed production figures and revenues from the sales of oil abroad in 2009.

Clare Short, Chair of the international EITI Board welcomed the report saying, “Through the launch of its first EITI report, Iraq has taken a significant step towards transparency in its all-important oil sector. With transparency of the payments for its oil and gas, Iraq’s citizens can see how much the government receives from the country’s vast natural resources and start to ensure that Iraq’s resource wealth is properly managed. Greater transparency will help Iraq overcome some of the many challenges it is facing”.
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Iran may not be able to maintain its oil output by 2016 due to sustained international sanctions, but Iraq should be able to step into the breach, says the International Energy Agency.

Adding to the alarm bells surrounding Iran’s oil production, the International Energy Agency (IEA) says that there is a real danger that Tehran will not be able to maintain its oil output under the weight of international sanctions. READ MORE HERE

In the first part of the 2012 regional economic prospects, a look at oil-rich countries’ efforts to manage their citizens’ expectations, economic slowdown and regional and domestic political upheavals in the New Year.

The year 2011 was probably the most unexpected for the Middle East in decades with not just the magnitude of changes unravelling in the region, but also the sheer number of those cataclysmic changes. READ MORE HERE

openDemocracy /Foter

By Alon Ben-Meir

In the wake of the Arab Spring and Prime Minister Erdogan’s championing of political reforms throughout the Arab world, it has now become more urgent than ever before to find an equitable solution to the Turkish-Kurdish conflict. Short of finding an immediate resolution to this debilitating struggle will not only severely compromise Turkey’s suggested model of successfully combining Islam and democracy, but it will additionally bankrupt its moral standing as it willfully continues to discriminate against 15 million Kurds who represent one-fifth of its population.
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rickz /Foter

Read the ten major forecasts from Opec’s latest World Oil Outlook, ranging from the challenges and prospects for oil developers to the intense competition they will face over the next 25 years. READ MORE HERE

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