ExxonMobil to explore for oil in Iraqi Kurdistan

LONDON -- ExxonMobil Corp. has signed agreements to explore for oil and gas in six blocks in the Kurdish region of Iraq, Michael Howard, communications adviser to the Resources Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government, told Dow Jones Newswires Friday.
He declined to give further details.
ExxonMobil is the first of the major international oil companies to reach such an agreement with the KRG, which has long been in dispute with Iraq's central government over its right to issue oil exploration licenses.
ExxonMobil declined to comment on the agreement.
ExxonMobil is already operating in Iraq, producing around 370,000 barrels a day of oil from the West Qurna field, under a service contract with the Baghdad government. The Baghdad government has previously excluded companies operating in the Kurdish region from oil contracts in the rest of the country.