Kurdish government officials were not available for comment on the reason for the halt.

Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki’s adviser on Kurdish affairs said the stoppage was a reaction to central government approving a new oil and gas law without consulting Kurdish leaders.

“Kurdish authorities are upset by the Cabinet decision to pass such a vital law without discussing it with its major partner in government,” Maliki adviser Adel Barwari said.

“Kurds have the feeling they were intentionally ignored.”

There has been a long-running feud between Iraq’s central government in Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in Arbil over control of northern oilfields.

Kurdish authorities previously halted exports in 2009, a stoppage that lasted for more than a year until the flow of oil resumed in February.

At a meeting with foreign oil firms in Amman, Jordan, Oil Minister Abdul-Kareem Luaibi said in a statement the KRG had given no reason for the export halt, which would mean “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.”

Citing government sources, Reuters reported earlier that Kurdish crude exports had declined sharply in recent weeks to 50,000-60,000 bpd from 160,000 bpd.

The sources did not know the reason for the decline.

Earlier on Sunday, Luaibi confirmed the Kurdish export decline.

He said exports had dropped to 50,000-55,000 bpd in the last two weeks but had been rising again, without giving a current figure, adding Kurdish officials said it was due to “technical and maintenance work” in oilfields.

Luaibi later announced the export halt.

Kurdish President Masoud Barzani has called his officials to a meeting in Arbil on Tuesday to discuss the region’s disputes with central government, Barwari said.

Iraqi Kurdistan stopped exports in 2009 due to disagreements with Baghdad over contracts the KRG signed with foreign companies to develop its oilfields. The central government deems the contracts illegal.

The resumption of exports in February provided a big boost to Iraq’s total exports.

The OPEC producer exported a total of 2.189 million bpd in August, including 461,000 bpd from northern fields.