Subscribe 

UPDATE: KRG takes Kirkuk, Bai Hassan fields

When the Oil Ministry gave orders to dismantle a key pipeline, the Kurds took over the NOC's fields, and post-2003 relations between Baghdad and Erbil have never been worse.
Gas flares burn at the Kirkuk oil field on Jan. 06, 2010. (MARWAN IBRAHIM/AFP/Getty Images)

KIRKUK - A deal to link the Baghdad-controlled parts of Kirkuk's oil fields to the Kurdistan export pipeline would have brought a quarter million barrels of Iraqi oil exports back online relatively quickly – and the collaboration could have eased tension that is stalling political and military progress.

As of Friday morning, that deal is now effectively dead.

This content is for registered users. Please login to continue.
If you are not a registered user, you may purchase a subscription.