Iraq Banks Chevron Over Kurdistan Deal

Chevron has been banned from bidding for exploration licences by Iraq’s federal government following its acquisition of oil interests in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region of the country last week.

In a statement, Iraq’s oil ministry said Chevron’s investment in the Kurdistan region of Iraq was “illegal and illegitimate” as it announced “the disqualification of Chevron company” from doing business in the south and centre of the country and barred it “from signing any deals with the federal oil ministry and its companies”.

The move follows a protracted stand-off between Iraq’s federal government in Baghdad and the government in the Kurdish sector of northern Iraq over the control of oil production and exports from the region.

Chevron, the second-largest US oil group by market capitalisation, announced last Thursday that it was acquiring 80 per cent stakes and operational control of two blocks north of Erbil in Iraq’s Kurdish region from Reliance of India. OMV of Austria remains a junior partner in the fields.

Financial Times