Thelong-awaited legislation would give foreign oil companies a stable regime forinvestments to revive Iraq’s dilapidated oil sector and help the country meetits production growth ambitions.

However, ratificationof the draft law has been ensnared by political in-fighting among rivalfactions in the Iraqi parliament, with the Kurdish representation keen toretain its grip on the semi-autonomous region’s rich hydrocarbon resources inthe face of Baghdad’s push for greater federal control.

The