Gunmen in Kirkuk on Sunday killed a senior Iraqi oil official working for the state-run North Oil Company, Reuters reported.
Police said NOC's Chief Operations Officer, Saad al-Karbalaie, was killed after the attackers forced him to stop his vehicle and shot him. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
Karbalaie was supervising facilities and production in Iraq's northern oil city for NOC, one of the companies owned by the Ministry of Oil.
Iraq is facing the challenge of securing its oil refineries from Daesh (ISIS) extremists, who have targeted oil facilities in the country. Daesh has profited off oil exports to gain funding for its activities.
Iraq's largest Baiji refinery had earlier been seized by the group and significantly slowed production due to security issues.
