Iraq's oil revenues in 2022 exceeded $115 billion, according to preliminary figures announced by the oil ministry on Tuesday -- a four-year high following a collapse in prices during the coronavirus pandemic.

Oil production accounts for some 90 percent of Baghdad's income, and the country is the second largest producer within the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

"The total revenue from the export of crude oil for the year 2022 amounts to more than $115 billion," Minister for Oil Hayan Abdel-Ghani said in a statement.

The country exported more than 1.2 billion barrels in 2022, averaging 3.3 million barrels per day, according to the statement.

These revenues follow a spike in prices following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and OPEC producers' subsequent reluctance to increase production.

In October the oil cartel decided to cut production quotas to maintain price levels, with a reduction of "two million barrels per day".

With a near total reliance on oil revenue to fund state spending, Iraq was hit by a collapse in prices at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.

From $78.5 billion in 2019, oil revenues fell to $42 billion in 2020, according to official statistics. By 2021 they had risen back up to $75.6 billion.

Following decades of conflict Iraq, faces chronic economic challenges and requires significant investment in infrastructure projects, making oil revenues and prices per barrel crucial data for Baghdad's preparation of annual budgets.

Despite its oil riches Iraq, home to 42 million inhabitants, faces an energy crisis that sees regular power cuts and damaging electrical surges, known as load shedding.

Neighbouring Iran provides the country with one-third of its gas and electricity but deliveries are frequently interrupted, further aggravating the already-daily instances of load shedding.

Last month the World Bank warned that Iraq, battered by climate change impacts from drought and water scarcity to rising temperatures, must diversify its economy and invest $233 billion by 2040 to embark "on a green growth path".

Iraq says ex-official returned fraction of stolen billions
Baghdad (AFP) Jan 3, 2023 - Iraq said Tuesday it had recovered another $2.6 million in public funds fraudulently withdrawn from a government account, but the money is still only a fraction of the $2.5 billion that disappeared.

The scandal, implicating businessmen and former high officials, has provoked widespread anger in Iraq. The country is oil-rich but ravaged by endemic corruption while plagued by unemployment and decaying infrastructure.

Judge Haider Hanoun, who heads the government's anti-corruption agency, said "the sum returned today... amounts to four billion Iraqi dinars" ($2.6 million).

He spoke at a press conference with piles of red and green bank notes stacked before him.

A suspect returned the funds and will face trial on January 12, Hanoun said, declining to name the suspect pending a verdict.

Hanoun said the same suspect is believed to have embezzled more than $11 million in total.

An official in the anti-corruption agency identified the suspect as Haitham al-Juburi, who is in detention and a former adviser to ex-prime minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi.

The source spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

The government of Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani took over from Kadhemi in October and has made regular announcements about the major corruption case to showcase its determination to fight graft.

According to a document from the country's tax authority, the $2.5 billion was allegedly expropriated between September 2021 and August last year through 247 cheques cashed by five enterprises.

The money was subsequently withdrawn from the companies' accounts, the document showed.

The owners of those accounts -- most of whom are on the run -- are subject to arrest warrants.

In November, Sudani said Nour Zuhair Jassem, a wealthy businessman implicated in the theft from tax authorities, had given back part of more than $1 billion that he "confessed" to having received. Released on bail, the man has returned $211.6 million in several payments.

The top echelons of power routinely evade accountability in Iraqi corruption cases.

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Iraq PM summons central banker as currency slides
Baghdad (AFP) Dec 27, 2022
Iraq's premier summoned the central bank governor Tuesday amid worries sparked by a currency drop against the dollar, with lawmakers calling for an extraordinary session of parliament. One US dollar traded at 1,580 Iraqi dinars on the street Tuesday, against the central bank rate of 1,470 dinars, state news agency INA reported. The drop, which began about two weeks ago, has sparked alarm in the media in the oil-rich country, and on Tuesday Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani met the central b ... read more