Iraqi Kurds give oil deals to own oil firm

IRBIL, Iraq, Nov. 6 (UPI) -- Iraq’s Kurdish region has awarded its own exploration and production firm four exploration blocks on a day of major moves in its oil sector.

The Kurdistan Regional Government announced another seven deals with foreign firms and a field development/refinery integrated project with the Kurdistan National Oil Co.

The Kurdistan Exploration and Production Co., owned by the KRG and established as part of the region’s controversial oil law, was awarded four blocks in the Irbil and Sulaymaniyah provinces.

A KRG statement Tuesday said the terms of the deals would be the same offered to international oil firms, which brings back 85 percent of the profit to Iraq. KEPCO must also partner with a larger international oil firm to provide “technical and financial support.”

The Kurdistan National Oil Co. was awarded the Khurmala oil field. KNOC’s deal is a service contract, not a production-sharing contract like the KEPCO and international oil firm deals.

KNOC will begin developing the appraisal wells already drilled and then drill more to increase production to 250,000 barrels per day, the KRG statement said.

Associated natural gas and fuel oil from a KNOC-built 50,000 barrels per day refinery will be used for electricity by the KRG’s Ministry of Electricity. All other oil will be exported, the statement said.

The announcements Tuesday are bound to be met with the same response from Baghdad as previous KRG deals; the Iraq Ministry of Oil has called them illegal.

It wants the Kurds to wait until a national oil law is passed, though it is stuck over disputes as to how much control the federal government has over the oil sector and what role private oil firms should play. Like the KRG oil deals, the region’s oil law is a lightning rod as well.