LONDON, June 9 (UPI) -- Good governance and sweeping national security are integral parts of the investment future in the Iraqi oil sector, the British energy minister said.
An Iraqi oil exhibition opened this week in London. British Energy Minister Andrea Leadsom said that although British energy companies are playing an active role in Iraq, security and cooperation across the entire country is needed to improve the investment climate.
"In Iraq, lower oil prices in particular have highlighted some weaknesses in economic institutions," she said. "Tackling these, along with some of the political divisions that risk undermining Iraq's energy potential, is of great importance."
British energy companies were among those last year that evacuated non-essential staff from Iraq amid the growing threat from the terrorist group calling itself the Islamic State. With the group now in control of some Sunni-dominated cities in the country, the British government said it was sending as many as 125 troops to join counter-terrorism operations in Iraq.
The deployment follows a plea from Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, who last month gave his approval for a military assault on the western Iraqi city of Ramadi.
British energy company Gulf Keystone Petroleum said low oil prices were a greater concern for operations in the Kurdish north of Iraq, largely shielded from the threat from the Islamic State. The company is targeting about 36,000 barrels of oil per day from the Shaikan development in the Kurdish north.
Bilateral disputes between the central government in Baghdad and the semiautonomous Kurdish administration have throttled some potential advancement in the national energy sector.
"Good governance includes a strong partnership between the government of Iraq and Kurdistan regional government," Leadsom said.
British energy company BP operates in the Shiite-dominated south of Iraq at the giant Rumaila oil field.
