The role of foreign direct investment in developing the oil sector in Iraq after 2004

Abstract

The oil sector represents the main artery of the Iraqi economy, and any investment and development in the oil sector has a clear impact on the rest of the other economic sectors. Due to the neglect and wars that Iraq has been exposed to, the infrastructure of the oil sector has been backward, and thus, the oil sector has not been able to keep pace with technological developments in the world. The research has tried to shed light on one of the most important problems facing the oil industry in Iraq and the controversy raised by the oil contracts in Iraq that were signed by the Ministry of Oil in 2010 between an opposing side and a supporting side, as they see that they are contracts limited to the service provided by foreign companies. Therefore, the goal was set to analyze the reality of foreign direct investment in the oil sector and also study. Iraqi oil service contracts in detail and a statement of the total revenues and losses achieved for the period 2004-2022; and to achieve the goal of the research, it was based on the hypothesis that the licensing rounds achieved in addressing the imbalances in the Iraqi economy, as they helped in developing the production capabilities and export capacity of the oil sector, but their impact was limited because the gross domestic product is affected by oil prices and not by the quantities produced. The research reached the necessity of setting an economic policy that works to modernize the Iraqi oil sector by defining it clearly, and that increasing economic growth is the main goal it targets.