With tensions already high, Russia’s largest oil company is investing heavily in Iraqi Kurdistan
$3.5 billion
Russia’s Rosneft is investing heavily in Iraqi Kurdistan’s oil industry.
Published | Photo by Reuters/Azad Lashkari
Last week, Rosneft bought a share of 60% of the region’s main oil pipeline for $1.8 billion.
Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin is a close ally of Russian president Vladimir Putin, and the Kremlin is Rosneft’s biggest shareholder.
Putin wants to expand Russia’s influence in the Middle East, but this is a complicated time to strengthen ties with the Kurds.
The central Iraqi government just seized the Kurdish city of Kirkuk, in retaliation for the Kurd’s independence referendum.
