WesternZagros sued over Kurdish block

Monde Petroleum, a former consultant to WesternZagros Ltd (WZL), is suing WZL for a stake in the Kurdamir exploration and production-sharing agreement (EPSA). The claim could be worth more than $100m. A preliminary High Court of Justice Queen’s Bench Division judgment dated 14 January also raises questions about the relationship between WZL, a wholly owned subsidiary of Calgary-based WesternZagros Resources (WZR), and Bafel Talabani, son of former Iraqi president Jalal Talabani. British Virgin Islands-incorporated Monde, wholly controlled by Yassir Al-Fekaiki, has accused WZL of wrongfully terminating an April 2006 consultancy agreement which contained “an option in certain circumstances to share in the benefit of a successful EPSA by acquiring a 3% interest”.