Swiss-based
Vitol, a leading oil trader, has cancelled a deal with the semi-autonomous
Kurdistan region in northern Iraq to buy oil, struck without approval of the central government in Baghdad, the country's
federal oil minister said Sunday.
"Vitol has cancelled the contract and the company sent us an
apology," Abdul Kareem Luaiby told reporters in Vienna.
Baghdad and the Kurds are at loggerheads over
who should control oil resources in the Kurdistan
region.
Mr. Luaiby also said that he would meet with OAO Lukoil Holding on Monday to
discuss a similar contract that the Russian firm is planning to conclude with Kurdistan.