Iraq threatens to stop oil exports to South Korea over its direct dealings with Kurds

Iraq's oil ministry has threatened to stop all crude exports to South Korea if that nation proceeds with a deal it signed with the semiautonomous Kurdistan regional government.

In early November, a consortium led by the state-run Korea National Oil Corp., or KNOC, secured exploration rights from the Kurdish regional government for an oil field in the Northern Province. The Korean consortium includes SK Energy, South Korea's biggest oil refiner, and GS Holdings Corp. The ministry has made it clear that no contracts should be signed until a new national oil law is passed. There was a clear warning to these companies that they will be blacklisted and excluded from any future cooperation with the ministry. Iraq is the sixth-largest provider of oil to the country. The Kurds have signed more than a dozen contracts with foreign oil companies, insisting Iraq's constitution gives them that authority.

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