Indicators is a daily economic watch newsletter about the Near East, issued by New Orient News agency in Beirut, Lebanon. It is available on Voltairenet.org in Arabic and English. Also worth a read is Tendencies, the daily Near East political watch newsletter, available in Arabic, English and French languages.

Oil Contracts and a Non-Oil Investment

Despite the opposition of the central government in Baghdad on signing any agreements before approving oil and gas law by the Iraqi parliament, Kurdistan Regional Government has signed four oil investment contracts that would attract about half a billion US dollars, the most important of which was signed with the American "Hunt Oil Company".

The government of Kurdistan said that it signed these contracts based on oil and gas law issued by the parliament of the province. Nevertheless, these contracts has resulted in making relations within the political coalition in Baghdad more tense, let alone the tension of relations with Turkey. Analysts said that Kurdistan’s government is trying to enhance its independence through signing more oil agreements, in addition to issuing an oil law that goes in line with the federation which the leaders of the province seek to achieve. Within this context, we can say that the goal has not to do only with oil investment, rather with the investments of the western parties in the province.