Hard-liners in Baghdad appear to be rejecting compromise with oil companies in negotiations to reopen the northern pipeline to Turkey.

The expiration of a U.S. sanctions waiver on Iranian electricity imports is complicating Baghdad's balancing act between Tehran and Washington, while the government scrambles for power supply ahead of peak demand season.

One month after Parliament passed legislation designed to help restart the pipeline to Turkey, implementation is mired in old disagreements.

Syria's autonomous Kurdish-led enclave has revived an energy trade supplying oil and gas to territory controlled by the transitional government in Damascus.

Kurdistan's oil companies cemented a legal victory as the final avenue for appeal has closed.

Parliament passed an amendment to the national budget law designed to pay oil companies in Kurdistan and unlock pipeline exports to Turkey.

A compromise measure to pay Kurdistan's oil contractors and unlock Iraq's northern oil export route has met major political opposition.

Iraq has been transferring large volumes of high-sulfur fuel oil to Iranian traders in a deal to help resolve energy import debts.