ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani on Thursday received Halliburton CEO Jeff Miller, asserting that his government places "great importance" on the work of international oil companies and urging the US energy giant to establish research and training centers and to localize certain industries in Iraq.

In a meeting with Miller and his accompanying delegation, Sudani "affirmed that the government places great importance on the work of major oil companies, particularly American ones," in the development of Iraq's energy center, according to a statement from the prime minister's office.

The premier further urged Halliburton to expand its service centers in the country and to open research centers "to support technological advancements in drilling and reclamation operations," as well as training centers to enhance human capital in the sector.

Furthermore, Sudani expressed his hopes that the firm would seek to localize certain industries within the country, namely "the production of chemicals for drilling and production and the manufacturing of oil equipment for drilling purposes and submersible pumps."

The reliance of Halliburton on foreign labor has caused issues in Iraq in the past, with employees of the firm staging a sit-in protest in Basra in August over what they termed arbitrary dismissals of Iraqi workers, accusing the company of seeking to replace them with workers from abroad.

One of the protest leaders, Issam Dawood, told The New Region that “the company’s management prepared a list including 42 employees to be dismissed," adding that "most of the employees targeted for dismissal are engineers and workers with experience ranging between five and fifteen years."

Sudani in August met with Halliburton's Eastern Hemisphere President Shannon Slocum to discuss expanding cooperation with the US oilfield services company, outlining Baghdad's vision for developing the oil and gas sectors, its commitment to maximizing the utilization of associated gas, and increasing production of petroleum derivatives.

Slocum said that “the company is committed to providing the latest technological solutions to develop oil and gas fields, after finalizing the contract model, and will employ modern administrative and technical methods, while also committing to developing the skills of Iraqi personnel working with the company.”

Halliburton has a long association with developing natural resources in Iraq, with the firm's ties to then-US Vice President Dick Cheney in the run-up to the 2003 US-led invasion and the subsequent awarding of energy contracts causing a political firestorm. Formerly the CEO of the company, Cheney continued to receive deferred compensation during his tenure as vice president, raising accusations of him having a vested interest in Halliburton obtaining lucrative oil deals after the fall of the Baathist regime.