Iraq has suspended crude oil exports to South Korea because Korean companies haven't yet abandoned a deal signed with the Kurdistan regional government to explore disputed oil fields, a senior Iraqi oil official said Monday.
Iraq has suspended crude oil exports to South Korea because Korean companies haven't yet abandoned a deal signed with the Kurdistan regional government to explore disputed oil fields, a senior Iraqi oil official said Monday.

"We have stopped crude oil exports to South Korea since the beginning of January," the official told Dow Jones Newswires.

SK Energy Co. (096770.SE), Korea's sole buyer of Iraqi crude, used to import around 100,000 barrels a day of Basra light crude a day from Iraq. During 2007, SK imported more than 37 million barrels of Iraqi crude, or about 5% of its annual crude oil imports.

The official said Iraq could still resume oil exports to South Korea if a production-sharing contract, signed by Korea National Oil Corp. and the KRG to explore the onshore Bazian oil field, was abandoned. Bazian has 500 million barrels of estimated reserves.

"South Korea companies have asked us to give them an ultimatum that ends Jan. 31 before taking a final decision on suspension of crude oil exports for a longer period," the official said.

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