Texas Oil Company Signs Deal With Iraqi Kurds

Dallas oil company signs deal with Kurds

By JOHN PORRETTO, AP Business Writer
Sat Sep 8, 4:26 PM ET

HOUSTON - Texas' Hunt Oil Co. and Kurdistan's regional government said Saturday they've signed a production-sharing contract for petroleum exploration in northern Iraq, the first such deal since the Kurds passed their own oil and gas law in August.

A Hunt subsidiary, Hunt Oil Co. of the Kurdistan Region, will begin geological survey and seismic work by the end of 2007 and hopes to drill an exploration well in 2008, the parties said in a news release. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Hunt is a privately held independent oil company based in Dallas. A third partner, Impulse Energy Corp., also has a stake in the project.

"We're very pleased to have the opportunity to be a part of these landmark events by actively participating in the establishment of the petroleum industry," Ray L. Hunt, Hunt's CEO, said in a statement.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/hunt_oil_kurds

Iraqi Oil Minister Says Hunt Oil Deal With Kurd Regional Government Illegal

Monday September 10, 12:13 pm ET

VIENNA, Austria (AP) -- An agreement announced this weekend between U.S.-based Hunt Oil Co. and the self-ruled Kurdish administration of northern Iraq to explore for oil is illegal, Iraq's oil minister Hussain al-Shahristani said Monday.

Those comments underscore the central government's view that exploration contracts with foreign companies should be signed only after the adoption of a new national oil law, which has been stalled for months.

"Any oil deal has no standing as far as the government of Iraq is concerned," al-Shahristani said as he arrived for an OPEC meeting in Vienna. "All these contracts have to be approved by the Federal Authority before they are legal. This (contract) was not presented for approval. It has no standing."

Hunt Oil, a privately held independent oil company, and the Kurdish regional government said Saturday they had signed a production-sharing contract for petroleum exploration in the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq. Terms were not disclosed.

Dallas, Texas-based Hunt declined to comment Monday.

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070910/austria_iraq_hunt_oil.html