The source told Voice of America (VOA) court held a special session on the case of the oil companies working in the Kurdistan Region that have contracts with the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Ministry of Natural Resources.
The source noted the court’s decision was in the interest of the Iraqi Oil Ministry, and that the court did not reveal the ruling.
The court’s decision involved four companies: DNO, Genel Energy, HKN Energy, and Western Zagros, according to the source, who said the ruling was delayed for three other companies.
These three other companies, that saw a verdict postponed for six to 17 months, were Addax Petroleum, Gulf Keystone Petroleum, and ShaMaran Petroleum Corp.
The KRG’s Minister of Natural Resources filed a civil suit against the Iraqi Minister of Oil on June 5 for sending letters to oil companies working in the Region calling them to appear before the court’s sessions.
A statement from the Ministry of Natural Resources noted the companies summoned to the court included DNO, ASA, Western Zagros, HKN Energy, ShaMaran Petroleum Corp., Genel Energy, Addax Petroleum and Gulf Keystone Petroleum.
The ministry’s statement called the act of the al-Karkh Court of Investigations an illegal decision made by the Iraqi Federal Supreme Court to interfere with the rights of companies with contracts with the KRG.
The statement charged the "so-called Federal Supreme Court” with issuing a politically motivated decision in February aimed at overturning the 2007 Kurdistan Oil and Gas act, and declared no court in Baghdad had the authority to make such a decision.
Reporter's code: 50101