Due to security problems, repair crews cannot fix Iraq's northern export pipeline, which shut down after a May 7 incident.
As overstretched Iraqi forces struggle to counter a violent Sunni uprising, Kurdistan's military has taken aggressive new positions around Kirkuk.
Government forces battled Sunni militants and protesters across the country, as long-standing sectarian grievances threaten to combust into open warfare.
Dozens were killed when Iraqi security forces cracked down on demonstrations and armed protesters fought back, sparking sectarian resentment and bloodshed across the country.
After attacks on both the Qaiyarah and Najmah oil fields, at least one well is burning while hydrogen sulfide gas threatens cleanup crews, local residents, and the environment.
Three people were killed and one was kidnapped when a score of gunmen raided a work site at the Akkas gas field and escaped into the lawless desert of western Anbar.
The normally secure capital of Kurdistan was jolted by an attack on a Peshmerga officer.
The fuel pipeline from Baiji to Ninewa has been bombed twice in the past two days, and five times in the last three weeks. The Oil Ministry is pointing fingers at local security forces.
For the second time in less than a week, saboteurs bombed a pipeline supplying refined fuel to Ninewa province from the Baiji refinery.
With their armies still locked in a standoff, the KRG and Baghdad are fighting political battles – over territory, power, and oil – that risk escalating into armed conflict.
