Iraq ’s Kurdish region may be able to gain more autonomy and increase crude exports after taking control of territory around the nation’s fourth-largest oil field, analysts from Saxo Bank A/S and JBC Energy GmbH said. Kurdish troops are protecting the Kirkuk oilfield and surrounding areas after an offensive by Islamist insurgents last week prompted Iraqi central-government forces to flee. The Kurdistan Regional Government plans to double its crude exports next month to as much as 250,000 barrels a day and has built a new pipeline that could ship Kirkuk oil to international markets, Ashti Hawrami , KRG’s natural resources minister, said at a conference in London today. “The current situation could lead to a better environment for exports if the Kurdish region gets more autonomy and can ship its oil, and the south of Iraq continues to grow,” David Wech , managing director at JBC Energy GmbH in […]