Shell Oil Company denies negotiating Kurdistan RegionG over investments in Kurdistan

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) The US Shell Oil Company denied reports that mentioned the Company has “carried out negotiations with the Kurdistan Regional Government to invest in the Region without the consent of the Iraqi Federal Government.”

A statement by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister for Energy Affairs Hussein al-Shahristani, received by Iraqi News (IraqiNews.com) on Wednesday, cited that “Shahristani discussed, during a meeting in his office, with the Manager of the US Shell oil company, Hans Naikamb, the final production levels of the oil fields run by the company.”

It added that “Shahristani stressed, during the meeting, the government’s approval on production methods adopted by the US Company that lead and ensure the highest oil productions and lengthen the period of fixed production from oil fields.”

For his part, Naikamb denied “The reports which talked about negotiations between the Company and the Ministry of Natural Resources in the Kurdistan Regional Government over signing investment contracts with the Region without the consent of the Federal Oil Ministry,” saying that “The Company did not hold any discussions with the Kurdistan RegionG about working in the Region and such information is groundless.”

The statement mentioned that “Shahristani reiterated the Federal Government’s rejection for oil contracts concluded in Iraq without its consent, considering those contracts as illegal,” stressing that “The FG will take actions against all the companies that implement it.”