(MENAFN- Trend News Agency)
U.S. oilfield service companies Schlumberger, Baker Hughes and
Halliburton have pledged to comply with a federal supreme court
ruling and withdraw from the area controlled by the Kurdistan
Regional Government (KRG), Iraq's Oil Ministry said, Trend reports citing
Daily
Sabah .
The companies have confirmed that they will not start new
projects in the semi-autonomous KRG region and are in the process
of closing their existing tenders and contracts there, a ministry
statement said.
'Baker Hughes has been committed to supporting Iraq's energy
needs for decades and we are keen to continue doing so in
accordance with local laws and regulations,' a Baker Hughes
spokesperson said.
Halliburton and Schlumberger did not immediately respond to
requests for comment.
The Oil Ministry statement follows months of disputes between
Irbil and Baghdad after a February federal court ruling that deemed
the legal foundations of the Kurdistan region's oil and gas sector
to be unconstitutional.
The Oil Ministry in Baghdad has since made fresh attempts to
implement the ruling, including summoning seven firms operating
there to commercial court sittings that have been postponed
repeatedly.
The ministry also wrote to lead contractors and sub-contractors
in early June giving them three months to terminate existing
contracts or projects in the KRG's oil sector or face being
blacklisted, two sources told Reuters in June.
The KRG has repeatedly rejected the federal court ruling.
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