BAGHDAD, Jan. 14 (UPI) -- An Iraq Oil Ministry spokesman says firms that deal with Kurds will be kept out, while a Kurdish parliamentarian calls for the minister's job.

The back-and-forth is the latest in an oil dispute between the Kurdish and central governments over who has the right to set oil policy.

Leaders of Sunni and Shiite Arab political blocs have also made a pact against the Kurds' attempt to fold oil-rich Kirkuk into the official Kurdistan Regional Government territory.

Last week the national Oil Ministry announced a Jan. 31 deadline for companies interested in oil deals Iraq to pre-register.

"The Oil Ministry would not allow international corporations that already signed oil contracts with the government of Iraqi Kurdistan to invest in Iraq," Assem Jihad told the Voices of Iraq news agency.