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Exxon Confirms It Froze Deal With Kurdistan - Oil Minister

U.S. energy giant Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) has confirmed to Iraq's central government it has frozen an exploration contract with the nation's Kurdistan region, while Baghdad has reached an agreement with the firm on oil field payments, the federal oil minister said Monday.
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Δευ, 2 Απριλίου 2012 - 18:23
U.S. energy giant Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) has confirmed to Iraq's central government it has frozen an exploration contract with the nation's Kurdistan region, while Baghdad has reached an agreement with the firm on oil field payments, the federal oil minister said Monday.

Abdul Kareem Luaiby, the federal Iraqi oil minister, told Dow Jones Newswires that Exxon Mobil and Baghdad have reached agreement for the U.S.-based firm to be paid in crude oil for work on the huge West Qurna-1 oilfield, after months of negotiations over contract terms.

With regard to the Kurdish question, Luaiby said: "We received a letter from Exxon on Sunday confirming their earlier letter sent on March 5, in which the company stated that it froze the deal with Kurdistan ."

Baghdad had asked the U.S. company to choose between its deal with the KRG and its central government contract to develop the 370,000 barrels-a-day West Qurna Phase 1 in southern Iraq . The impasse also has led Exxon to be barred from Iraq 's fourth oil-and-gas licensing auction, scheduled for May.

Earlier, Kurdish authorities in northern Iraq denied that Exxon has frozen the deal and stressed that the U.S. giant is continuing its operations in the Kurdistan region.

Exxon could not be reached for immediate comments.

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