BAGHDAD: Iraq has told Exxon Mobil that it must choose between working in the country's southern oilfields or in autonomous Kurdistan, and expects the U.S. oil major to make a final decision in a few days, the oil minister said on Sunday.

"We made it clear to Exxon in the last meeting that the answer we expected from them is to either work in the Kurdistan region or to work in southern Iraq," Oil Minister Abdul Kareem Luaibi told reporters in Baghdad.

"Exxon Mobil cannot work in both fields at the same time."

Baghdad says any deals signed with Kurdistan are illegal, but Kurdistan's regional government says the constitution allows it to sign oil agreements with companies like Exxon without permission from the central government.

The Iraqi Kurdistan parliament issued in 2007 the Oil and Gas Law, according to which the region’s government entered into oil contracts with foreign companies. However, to this day, the federal parliament in Baghdad has not ratified this law and refuses to recognize it.