ABSTRACT
Based on biographical interviews and secondary sources, this chapter places the KRG oil nationalism within federal disputes. Since the Kurdish de facto state is in need of external recognition, independent oil deals have served as a fundamental carrier of legitimation. Resource sovereignty promises indeed to solve the problem of statelessness: energy diplomacy is deployed by ruling elites to reclaim the birthright to self-determination. At an ideological level, the exploitation of hydrocarbons goes deep into the re-imagining of the nation itself. The populist discourse underpinning the rhetoric of the “Dubai dream” is thoroughly examined and read in connection to the emotional attachment to the mountainous homeland upon which Kurd’s sense of belonging is defined. In more pragmatic terms, the analysis points out that the production sharing contracts (PSCs) signed with international oil companies have contributed to further territorialise the KRG authority, even in disputed areas beyond de jure borders. Finally, the journey of a barrel of crude shows current opportunities and limitations of such strategy - from the disadvantageous landlocked position and related salience of the Khurmala-Fish Khabur pipeline to the role of international traders and key importing countries.
