Iraq Pressures Gazprom to Quit Kurdistan

 By John Lee.

The Iraqi Government has reportedly told Gazprom Neft, the oil arm of Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom, to abandon oil deals in Kurdistan or face losing the lucrative Badra oilfield contract.

The field, which is estimated to have reserves of 100 million barrels, is being developed by Gazprom (30%), Korea’s KOGAS (22.5%), Malaysia’s Petronas (15%), Turkey’s TPAO (7.5%), and Iraq (25%).

Faisal Abdullah, a spokesman for Deputy Prime Minister for Energy Hussain Shahristani, confirmed on Friday that a letter had been sent to Gazprom last week warning the company, which acquired interests in two blocks with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in August.

According to Reuters, Gazprom Neft Chief Operating Officer Alexander Dyukov (pictured) declined to comment. The company reportedly denied freezing contracts in Kurdistan in October.

(Sources: BBC, Reuters)

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