Lawsuit challenging fundamentals of international oil deals is accepted by judge, and a hearing scheduled for next month.
Iraqi Kurdistan oil minister says Baghdad must pay foreign oil firms invested in northern fields before exports will restart.
Shahristani, in press conference at communications college, says elections will determine his future as Oil Minister, and talks Fakka, KRG contracts, and corruption.
Iraq Oil Report sheds light on the federal court challenge to BP's contract for Rumaila with the documents filed by the Oil Ministry and MP Musawi in recent hearings.
Iraq Oil Report has learned that at least four of Iraq's oil technocrat elite have been retired, though it appears to be based purely on age, not controversy as originally believed.
Workers say the popular Manna al-Obeidi should be replaced by someone born in Kirkuk, though the ministry claims his deputy is the right man for the job. Both are beyond the mandatory retirement age.
Iraqi NGOs will have to be an active member of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative for it to be successful, but worry they won't get a meaningul seat at the table.
The grand oil auction Dec. 11 and 12 required a breakout performance for Iraqi Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani in time for the national elections.
Dec. 22 hearing the first legal challenge to oil contracts concluded this year with foreign oil companies, including seven awarded Friday and Saturday.
The net outcome of the licensing rounds is likely to be more of an asset than a liability for Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
