Iraq: Al-Shahrastani will not allow oil exports outside SOMOnote

Reports from Baghdad suggest that Iraqi Oil Minister Hussein Al-Shahrastani has decided not to allow any foreign company active in northern Iraq to export crude oil from the country outside State-Owned Marketing Organization (SOMO). This came following statements by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) suggesting that it would look for new partners to export crude oil from northern Iraq. The following 333-word article focuses on the issue and tells what the position of PM Nuri Al-Maliki is and what Al-Shahrastani thinks of the KRG oil contracts.