JPM's Gregson backs Iraqi oil despite upheaval

J.P. Morgan Asset Management's Neil Gregson is backing a pair of oil producers in Iraqi Kurdistan as a contrarian buying opportunity.

The semi-autonomous region has been locked in a decade-long dispute with Baghdad over the region’s abundant oil resources – and last month took control of some facilities from the national government amid concerns over the rise of extremist group ISIS. With the Iraqi government’s hand weakened by its losses to ISIS elsewhere in the country, Gregson (pictured) is optimistic over the prospects for his holdings in the region. The manager of the £1bn JPM Natural Resources fund owns DNO Petroleum and WesternZagros, both of which have substantial assets in the region. Gregson is still ba...