Iraq wants “clarifications” from the Russian oil giant, Rosneft, on the oil and gas contracts it has signed with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), the Financial Times reports.

The company recently announced that it was acquiring a 60% stake in the KRG’s primary pipeline with a $1.8 billion investment, Reuters reported in October.

With the central government attempting to reassert control over the energy resources in the north,  Rosneft’s direct deals with the autonomous region has irked Baghdad, sources told the Financial Times.

In 2017 alone, Rosneft has promised the KRG more than $3 billion in investments and advance payments, according to the Financial Times.

The KRG and the central government in Baghdad have been locked in escalatory cycle of antagonism recently.

Earlier in October, the Iraqi government dispatched troops to seize the disputed Kirkuk oilfields from the KRG, causing KRG crude exports to Turkey  to drop by more than half, Reuters reported at the time.