http://www.iraqoilreport.com/politics/oil-policy/hunt-oil-knew-krg-oil-deal-in-disputed-territory-6108/
Hunt Oil knew KRG oil deal in disputed territory
"Dallas-based Hunt Oil Co., whose owner was an adviser to President George. W. Bush and a top fundraiser, knowingly signed a production sharing contract (PSC) with Iraq's Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) for a swath of land that lies outside the KRG's territory and remains a flashpoint of ethnic disputes, according to a U.S. State Department cable.
The cable, dated Sept. 12, 2007 and made public by Wikileaks, also detailed official warnings from the U.S. government that the contract, regardless of lease location, is legally risky due to unresolved land and oil disputes between Baghdad and the KRG – and that such a contract could further amplify conflicts between the central and regional governments.
"Considerable legal ambiguity surrounds the PSC with Hunt Oil, as the districts in northern Ninewa to be explored by the company are classified as 'disputed territories' under the Iraqi constitution," the cable stated. "A senior Hunt Oil manager told (a U.S. official) that northern Ninewa province has significant potential for oil production, and that this factor trumps the legal ambiguities and risks associated with the company's PSC with the KRG."......
Western Oil Firms Big Winners In Iraq
By Sherwood Ross
19 January, 2012
http://www.countercurrents.org/ross190112.htm
It also turns out Hunt Oil Co., of Dallas, Tex., clinched a separate
deal in Sept., 2007, with Iraq Kurdistan Regional Government. Hunt
might not have won if its chief officer, Ray Hunt, was not President
George W. Bush’s friend and a major fund-raiser. Some folks think,
according to a front page New York Times report July 3, 2008, the deal
“runs counter to American policy and undercut Iraq’s central
government.” Apparently, Bush didn’t think so. Baghdad reportedly is
furious over it.
Hunt got this free pass to explore Kurdistan’s oil riches in Sept.,
2007, when it inked an exploration pact likely to give the firm a
share of the boodle of any future gushers. “Hunt would be the first
U.S. company to sign such a deal,” a State Department official told
the New York Times. And according to reporter Jay Price of McClatchy
News Service, the Iraqi oil minister, speaking for Baghdad, “called
the Hunt deal illegal.”
A State Department cable dated Sept. 12, 2007, and made public by
Wikileaks, “detailed official warnings from the U.S. government that
the contract, regardless of lease location, is legally risky due to
unresolved land and oil disputes between Baghdad and the KRG---and
that such a contract could further amplify conflicts between the
central and regional governments,” wrote Ben Lando of the
authoritative “Iraq Oil Report” Aug. 25, 2011. Hunt seemingly would
not have to press Bush hard for the insider’s deal.
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/hunt_oil_company/index.html
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