The Conversation: Support for Kurdish autonomy is support for energy security

The difference between the seething realm of Islamic State (IS) and the relatively safe and democratic region of Iraqi Kurdistan is a stark one. Assuming that the combined humanitarian and military reinforcements the West is mustering will repel the threat, what next? If the Kurdish region is to be more than a nation-sized refugee camp and if the West is to salvage any real toehold of security in the Iraq region, Kurdish independence is the only answer.

As well as ensuring its security from IS, the West should support the wresting of Kurdish autonomy from the tangled politics of Baghdad, where oil remains a principal point of contention. Extracting and exporting oil and gas has long been the cause of disputes between the Kurdistan regional government and the central Iraqi government.

The Kurdistan region is home to two large oil fields and produces about 10% of Iraq’s production, with the potential for more. The region is not reliant on Baghdad for processing and exporting its oil – the regional government can independently export oil via the Turkish port of Ceyhan.
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