Exxon Mobil Corp. has asked the Iraqi central government to give it "few more days" to decide whether or not it will cancel an exploration deal with Iraqi Kurdistan, a deal which Baghdad strongly opposes, a spokesman for Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister for Energy Hussein al-Shahristani said Tuesday.

Iraq has asked the U.S. giant to choose between its deal with the semi-autonomous northern Iraqi region and its central-government contract to develop the 370,000 barrels-a-day West Qurna Phase 1. The impasse means Exxon has also been barred from Iraq's fourth oil-and-gas licensing auction, scheduled for May.

The Iraqi government ...