Kurdish government suspends Norwegian oil operations

ARBIL / IraqiNews.com: The government of Iraq’s Kurdistan region suspended all oil operations of Norway’s DNO for six weeks following a probe in Oslo, according to a statement of the Kurdish government. The Kurdish government says it has suspended all of Norway’s DNO International ASA oil operations following a regulatory probe in Oslo. “In the investigation, the Oslo Stock Exchange released information about a 2008 sale of DNO shares to Turkey’s Genel Enerj that implied Kurdish Natural Resources Minister Ashti Hawrami was a middleman in the deal,” said the statement posted on the government’s official website and received by Iraqi News. The Kurdish government said late Monday (Sept. 212) that Hawrami only worked in an official capacity, and gave DNO six weeks to remedy damage done to the Kurdish government’s reputation. The government says otherwise it might terminate DNO’s involvement in the region. DNO exports about 50,000 barrels per day from the Tawke oil field. DNO says it is considering legal action against the Oslo Stock Exchange. SH (P) 1