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S.Korea group to continue Kurdistan
project despite Iraqi threat
26.12.2007
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December 26, 2007
SEOUL,-- State-run Korea National Oil Corp
said Wednesday it would not abandon an exploration
project in Iraqi Kurdistan despite
threats by the central Iraqi
government to cut off oil supplies to South Korea.
"There is no change in our position to go ahead with
the project," Jang Soo-Bum, an official in charge of
exploration projects, told AFP.
The corporation is part of a South Korean consortium
which last month
signed a deal
with the Kurdistan government to explore the Bazian
field,www.ekurd.net
which is estimated to
hold 500 million barrels of crude oil.
The energy ministry confirmed that Baghdad has
threatened to stop crude oil exports to South Korea
because it had not authorised the Kurdistan deal. |
Korea National Oil Corporation (KNOC) has secured an
oilfield with an estimated deposit of over 500
million barrels in Kurdistan autonomous region in
'northern Iraq'. |
The warning was delivered through South Korea's top
refiner SK Energy, which is involved in the deal, a
ministry official told AFP on condition of
anonymity.
"Iraq has threatened to suspend crude exports from
January, demanding the South Korean consortium
cancel its deal with the Kurdistan government," he
said.
Local newspapers have said Britain's BP and an
Austrian state energy developer received similar
warnings over their deals with the semi-autonomous
region.
"We are trying to solve this problem through
negotiations,"www.ekurd.net
the ministry official
said, adding Iraq had been at odds with regional
governments over control of new exploration areas.
Officials said the dispute would not badly hit
overall oil imports.
South Korea has imported 37 million barrels from
Iraq so far this year, or 5.2 percent of total crude
imports.
Seoul has about 600 troops stationed in the Kurdish
region for reconstruction projects.
South Korea's parliament is expected to vote Friday
on whether to extend the contingent's stay until
next December, as the Seoul government wants.
AFP
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