Iraq threatens to blacklist companies connected to oil deals with Kurdish region in Iraq

[ck4829]

Iraq has halted oil exports to Austria's OMV, the leading oil and gas group in central Europe, to protest a deal with the self-ruled Kurdish region, a government official said Saturday.

The company joins South Korea's SK Energy in being cut off because of deals with the Kurds that are not sanctioned by the government in Baghdad.

In November, OMV signed two production-sharing contracts with the Kurdish administration in northern Iraq for two exploration blocks, Mala Omar and Shorish, in Irbil.

...

"The ministry has made it clear since last December that it would stop cooperation with these companies and then blacklist them if they keep insist on maintaining these contracts which we consider illegal," the official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5ifais_syEtJ4gnCt-flME4UylgSwD8UIK6300

[Supersedeas]

1. you mean Hunt Oil might have to stand in line--even after all that crony pandering?