Can Iraq Challenge Saudi Arabia’s Regional Oil Dominance?

Like the first cuckoo of spring, the annual autumn refrain from senior Iraqi oil officials of new production targets has that pleasant ring of the familiar about it to seasoned oil industry watchers. Sometimes it is 6 million barrels per day (bpd), sometimes 7, and sometimes 8, but it always prompts an analysis of the facts and figures that invariably lead to the same conclusion: it could be done but not without some basic changes to Iraq’s oil industry. Last week was heard a similar call as Europe faces an uncertain energy future heading…