Ergo was hired by a large private equity firm considering an investment in a Western oil company with operations in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Our client sought to understand how political, economic, and historical divisions between the Iraqi central government and the Kurdish Regional Government, as well as relations with the Turkish government, will affect oil exploration and production and the awarding of production sharing agreements (PSAs) in KRG-administered areas.

Using Ergo's vast network and our Kurdish and Iraqi in-country teams, we extracted insights from sources in closest proximity to and at the highest levels of this debate. Our sources were located in Baghdad, Erbil, Istanbul, Ankara, Amman, Washington, and London, and included top officials of the Iraqi, Kurdish, and Turkish governments, senior Western advisors to the Kurdish oil minister, and senior executives of other oil companies currently operating in the region. Much of our information was gleaned from formal and informal one-on-one interviews, many of which were conducted in the local languages.

Ergo's in-country teams and experts gathered information and data that served as the key component of our client's investment decision. Guided by our findings, our client was able to develop a more complete picture of the oil company's prospects for success and expansion in the Kurdish Region, and determine whether the company's existing production sharing contracts will be honored in an evolving political landscape.