Bold Kurdish move by Total

Defiant: Christophe de Margerie, chief executive of Total

REUTERS/SCANPIX

By Nassir Shirkhani London

 02 August 2012 22:59 GMT

France’s giant Total has become the latest major Western company to defy Baghdad and acquire upstream assets in Iraqi Kurdistan, giving another boost to the goal of Kurdish authorities to run their oil industry independently of the central government.

Total’s decision to farm into two blocks held by US independent Marathon comes in the wake of a similar move by Chevron. The latter acquired exploration rights in areas controlled by the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) last week.

Supermajor ExxonMobil paved the way for the entry of major international oil companies into Kurdistan last year, by signing agreements with the KRG to explore six blocks.

Unlike Chevron, both Exxon- Mobil and Total have invested in oil fields under the control of the Oil Ministry in Baghdad, which has responded by boycotting Chevron…

Become an Upstream member!

Membership includes a subscription to our weekly newspaper providing in-depth news from the energy industry, plus full-access to this site and its archives. Still not convinced? Try our free trial.

Already a member?

Login

Upstream share price index