On Tuesday, the Kurdistan Regional Government's official in charge of oil exploration and contracts will appear at the National Press Club. He's on a U.S. tour that includes stops in DC and Houston. The KRG's news release notes: "To date, more than 20 foreign oil companies have sought investments in Iraqi Kurdistan."

It's not going down well with the government in Baghdad:

BAGHDAD (AFP) — Iraq's oil ministry has declared all crude contracts signed by the Kurdish regional authorities with foreign companies null and void, a government official said on Saturday.

"The ministry has nullified all contracts signed by the Kurdistan Regional Government," the official told AFP, asking not to be named. "They will not be recognized."

The government in Iraq's northern autonomous Kurdish region has signed 15 exploration and exportation contracts with 20 international companies since it passed its own oil law in August, infuriating the Baghdad government.

Oil Minister Hussein Shahristani has in recent weeks angrily denounced the Kurdish authorities for signing the contracts before the national parliament approves a new oil and gas law, declaring them "illegal".