Iraq-Kurds oil exports row
The government in the Iraqi autonomous region of Kurdistan says it has made its first sale of crude oil despite strong opposition from Baghdad. The oil was piped to the Turkish port of Ceyhan. Iraq’s central government says it has filed legal action against Turkey and the pipeline operator. It is locked in a bitter dispute with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) over who can sell the country’s oil.
The development could further strain relations between Baghdad and the KRG, as well as ties between Iraq and Turkey. It is believed that the KRG is urgently in need of money following Baghdad’s decision to cut its budget to punish it for building a pipeline to Turkey.
After months of delay and in the face of international warnings, Ankara sold one million barrels of oil piped from the neighboring semi-autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan Region. The sale to an unspecified buyer was made without the consent of the central government in Baghdad. Baghdad had repeatedly warned Ankara any such sale would be illegal.
Iraq Seeks Arbitration
Baghdad has requested legal arbitration with the Paris-based International Chamber of Commerce in a dispute with Turkey over the sale of Iraqi Kurdish oil. The move raises the stakes again in a long-running game of political brinkmanship as Baghdad seeks to thwart Kurdistan’s moves towards greater self-sufficiency.
Ankara backs the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional government’s claim that it has the constitutional right to sell independently newly found energy reserves. Ankara has said that the proceeds of any such oil sales will be divided between the KRG and Baghdad, in compliance with the Iraqi Constitution.
Concerns about Iraq’s territorial integrity have resulted in Washington strongly backing Baghdad and criticizing Ankara over the sale. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the US does not support any export without the permission of the federal government of Iraq and warned it has concerns about the impact of such sales.
Baghdad also fears that other regions in Iraq that will follow the same example like Basra and therefore do not want to set a precedent that in time would weaken the central control over the rest of Iraq’s territory.
With any legal challenge to the oil sale predicted to take months if not years, analysts say both the governments of Turkey and the KRG will likely be banking on the fact that the reality on the ground will by then trump any protracted legal challenge.
Kurds dismisses Iraqi’s bid
Kurds have said that Iraq’s bid to thwart exports of oil from Kurdistan via Turkey by filing for arbitration will fail. The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) said it was undeterred by “hollow threats” from Baghdad and accused the Iraqi Oil Ministry of flouting the country’s constitution.
Nechirvan Barzani, Kurdistan region prime minister vowed before the Kurdish parliament that they welcome talks with Baghdad, “but we will never give up control of our own oil.”
The Kurds say they are constitutionally entitled to develop and export the resources in their region, and late last year finished building a pipeline to Turkey in defiance of Baghdad, which claims sole authority to manage all the country’s oil.
Oil has been flowing through the new pipeline into storage tanks at the Turkish port of Ceyhan since the start of the year, and the first shipment of more than one million barrels has been loaded and set off towards Europe.
Frank Uzuegbunam