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Iraq threatens Exxon with blacklist

Top central government officials said Exxon's deal with the KRG for six blocks violates the West Qurna 1 contract and jeopardizes the company's future in Iraq.
Senior ExxonMobil officials attend the signing of the West Qurna 1 contract in Baghdad in January 2010. (BEN LANDO/Iraq Oil Report)

ERBIL - Iraq's top energy official threatened Saturday to oust ExxonMobil from the super-giant West Qurna 1 oil field, after the super major signed deals for six blocks in the semi-autonomous Kurdish region.

Baghdad considers illegal all oil deals made without central government approval. Former Oil Minister and current Deputy Prime Minister for Energy Hussain al-Shahristani has enforced a strict blacklist policy, banning any firms signed with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) from oil deals with the central government.

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