Iraq’s energy ties with the US, which were supposed to yield oil deals following the 2003 invasion, have been whittled down to waivers to OPEC’s second-biggest producer to import Iranian electricity and gas, and avoid a political meltdown of the fragile Baghdad government, according to analysts. US energy companies did not benefit much from the rule of the Coalition Provisional Authority — the US-appointed entity that governed Iraq post the 2003 invasion until 2004 — and they seem unlikely to gain a foothold in the oil sector of a country fighting a resurgent Islamic State, grappling with protests and facing financial collapse from low oil prices. “The expectations of US […]