As political crisis and escalating violence threaten the stability of the state, followers of Sadr have also started protests at some oil fields.
Letter from Iraq's oil marketing company warns of "firm legal action" against participants in the KRG's independent oil trade.
Entering the legal fray as a third party, the KRG is appealing a Baghdad court’s July decision to invalidate four oil contracts.
Iraq's most vulnerable citizens are the hardest hit by dust storms, which are growing in frequency and intensity due to both global climate change and government inaction.
Baghdad is expanding its campaign to invalidate Kurdistan's oil contracts, filing new cases against the Russian and Emirati companies.
In the increasingly chaotic struggle to form a new government, Iraq's oil sector has been both a political battleground and a victim of dysfunctional governance.
Oil Ministry lawsuits against three IOCs operating in Kurdistan remain undecided as a KRG lawyer asks to join the proceedings as a third party.
Weatherford and three other companies with subcontracts in Kurdistan are barred from work in southern Iraq, as Baghdad continues campaign to reverse KRG oil sector independence.
The eight-year-old case, likely to be decided within the coming months, could give Baghdad major leverage in its campaign to end the KRG's oil sector independence and open a door to negotiate water rights with Turkey.
Days after declaring four of Kurdistan's oil contracts to be invalid, Baghdad court schedules a hearing on three others for July 17.
