Kuwait Energy keen to invest more in Iraq

STAVANGER, Norway — The recent flare-up of violence in Iraq is past its worst and Kuwait Energy is keen to invest more in the country because of its potential, Chief Executive Sara Akbar said. Several oil companies in Iraq's Kurdistan region withdrew staff last month after Islamic State militants approached Erbil, the region's capital, threatening its vast oil infrastructure. "I think we've been through the worst and things will stabilise," Akbar told Reuters on the sidelines of an oil conference in Norway. "Most of the developments in Iraq are on plan, especially in the south, where most of the international oil companies are still working, with field developments and exports going normal," said Akbar, whose firm operates in the southern part of the country and has been mostly unaffected. Akbar said she was not deterred by the violence, arguing that it was temporary and could not overshadow the country's vast potential for relatively easy oil. When asked it she would invest more, she said: "If we could get into more projects, yes, I'd love to."