Iraq's Kurdish Fighters Seize Oil Fields

LONDON--Iraq's Oil Ministry said Friday Kurdish Peshmerga forces had seized control of production facilities at two key oil fields near the northern city of Kirkuk, in a move that could further worsen already frayed relations between the Kurdistan Regional Government and Baghdad.

According to a statement published on the oil ministry's website, Kurdish Peshmerga forces accompanied by a number of civilians took control of the Kirkuk and Bai Hassan oil fields at dawn Friday, expelling employees of Iraq's Northern Oil Co.

Baghdad and the KRG are already at loggerheads, with oil at the center of the dispute. Since May, the KRG has been exporting 1-million-barrel tankers from the Turkish port of Ceyhan, infuriating Baghdad which claims sole authority over the country's natural resources. Meanwhile, Kurdish forces have held control of the disputed town of Kirkuk since insurgents overran the nearby town of Mosul, though until now they haven't sought control of the oil infrastructure.

The statement from the oil ministry, condemning the Peshmerga's actions, is the latest in a salvo of barbed public comments between the KRG and Baghdad.

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