Iraqi Kurdistan halts oil exports

AMMAN: Iraq's semi-autonomous northern Kurdish region halted oil exports on Sunday, Iraq's oil minister said.

"The government of the Kurdish region has stopped the pumping of oil extracted from the region today through the national pipeline grid, without giving the reason," Abdul-Kareem Luaibi said in a statement issued at a meeting with oil companies in Amman, Jordan.

"Accordingly this constitutes big losses for the Iraqi economy, which will be reflected on its revenues, on the people in the region specifically and the Iraqi people in general," the statement said.

Copyright Reuters, 2011