Under Tillerson's leadership, ExxonMobil cooperated closely with Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter and a longtime U.S. ally; Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. From 2003 to 2005, a European subsidiary of ExxonMobil, Infineum, operated in the Middle East providing sales to Iran, Sudan and Syria. ExxonMobil said they followed all legal framework and that such sales were minuscule compared to their annual revenue of $371billion at the time. In 2009, ExxonMobil acquired XTO Energy, a major natural gas producer, for $31billion in stock. Michael Corkery of the "Wall Street Journal" wrote that "Tillerson's legacy rides on the XTO Deal." Tillerson approved Exxon negotiating a multibillion-dollar deal with the government of Iraqi Kurdistan, despite opposition from President Barack Obama and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, both of whom argued it would increase regional instability.