US firm HKN has signed a preliminary deal to develop the Hamrin field in Iraq’s northern Saladin province. The deal was signed with state-owned North Oil Company (NOC) in the presence of Oil Minister Hayan Abdulghani and the US Embassy’s Chargé d’Affaires, Stephen Fagin. This is significant because HKN is a prominent operator in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region of Iraq and Baghdad had in the past barred IOCs with production-sharing contracts in Kurdistan from federal contracts although it has since softened its stance. The Federal government and Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) are in a long-running dispute over management of the Region’s oil and gas assets.
HKN had signed a binding term sheet with the KRG in May for the development of Kurdistan’s Miran gas field, which was immediately criticized by Iraq’s Ministry of Oil. This made the signing of an agreement with the company to operate in federal Iraq a highly symbolic development. (CONTINUED - 501 WORDS)