Iraq removes Sinopec from oil auction bidders list

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The ongoing row between Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) regarding the legality of Kurdish oil contracts has intensified after Chinese energy giant Sinopec was banned from taking part in the second round of oil auctions due to take lace in the Gulf state in January.

Dow Jones reported that the Iraq Oil Ministry had removed Sinopec from the approved bidders list due to the company’s recent takeover of Addax Petroleum. The Swiss-Canadian company has a major exploration and production contract in Iraqi Kurdistan.

"Sinopec is blacklisted unless it changes its position and withdraw from these [Kurdish] contracts," the senior oil official Abdul Manhdy al-Ameedi is quoted by Dow Jones as saying.

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The move by Baghdad is sure to reignite the row between the semi-autonomous state and Iraq over Kurdistan oil. The KRG has always maintained that all of its oil contracts are legal under Iraq law, while the central government has refuted the claims and said that they are not valid until they are ratified and controlled by the Iraq oil ministry.

A spokesman from Sinopec is quoted by Dow Jones as saying he had no knowledge of the company being removed from the list of approved bidders.