Iraq's Oil Ministry said on Aug. 29 the agreement Germany's RWE public utility signed with the Kurdistan Regional Government, which included possible future gas supply for the Nabucco pipeline project, is illegal. RWE announced two days earlier that it had signed a gas cooperation agreement with Iraq's autonomous Kurdish government.

"The export of crude oil, gas and their derivatives are exclusively under the authority of the Oil Ministry of the central Government in Baghdad and State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO)," Oil Ministry spokesman Asim Jihad said, reading an official statement. "Any contracts signed outside of that legal framework are considered void and illegal." (Reuters, Aug. 29)

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