Iraq, Iran swapping Kirkuk's oil

[Seleskya + 50]

Iraqis will be swapping 60,000 of their 'new' Kirkuk oil with Iran--in return for Iranian crude for one year ... wonder how the Iraqi Kurds are taking this? 

[Carlsbad + 19]

not very well I imagine. Weren't the Kurds in large part responsible for fighting off ISIS in Northern Iraq? Seems like they almost got Kirkuk. Guess no one was going to let that happen. The Iranians certainly didn't want it. BP is probably pleased ... Kirkuk's their baby and now they're working with the Iraqis on boosting production. 

[LAOIL + 33]

They fought alongside the Iraqis against ISIS--now the Iraqis are pretending the Peshmerga weren't even there. I doubt the loss of Kirkuk is going to be forgotten anytime soon. There will have to be a backlash over this...

[Kate Turlington + 44]

I'm sure the Iraqi Kurds have no plans to give up on their referendum so easily. They've fought too hard for it and lost too many lives. And they were very close. Unfortunately, the Baghdad and Erbil are the bit players in this game. The bigger regional powers weren't going to let it happen. That includes Iran, as the biggest power influencing Iraq. And as long as Iran doesn't want Kurdish independence, it's probably not going to happen. And the Kurds need Kirkuk to make it work. They have oil, but not enough without Kirkuk. At least, not enough to make a go of it independently.