A worker descends the Gulf Keystone drilling platform at Shaikan 5. (SEBASTIAN MEYER/Iraq Oil Report/Metrography)
U.S. oil services giant Halliburton joined Schlumberger and Baker Hughes in notifying Iraq's Oil Ministry that it will comply with a Federal Supreme Court (FSC) ruling invalidating the legal foundations of Iraqi Kurdistan’s energy sector.
In a letter dated June 28 and addressed to Iraqi Oil Minister Ihsan Ismaael, which was seen by Iraq Oil Report and confirmed as authentic, Halliburton said it would refrain from entering into new contracts or participating in ongoing tenders in the Kurdistan region without Baghdad’s blessing.
Halliburton's letter came in response to a set of circular letters — one from the Ministry of Oil to the Iraqi National Oil Company and one from the Basra Oil Company — instructing “all lead contractors and sub-contractors” to sever their contractual engagements with the KRG within three months or risk being blacklisted by Baghdad.
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