Foreign Corporations Not to Purchase Kurds Petroleum

On June 1, Iraqi Oil Ministry warned that foreign corporations should not buy petroleum from an oiler, considering those petroleum was exported from Kurdish Autonomous Region arbitrarily. Iraq also claimed that it would take legal action to foreign corporations which purchase the petroleum.

 

Currently, Iraqi government is taking a close look at an oiler which may carry petroleum. Iraq threatens to conduct prosecution to corporations dealing with the oiler. 

 

Last week, Iraqi Oil Ministry published a claim that it had submit arbitration about Turkish government and oil pipes operator to International Chamber of Commerce located in Paris, requesting Turkey to stop importing petroleum from Kurds without the authorization of Iraqi central government. However, Kurdish government considered that the arbitration ignored the rights of Kurds, violating the constitution.

 

At the end of last year, a new oil pipes to Turkey was build in Kurds. On May 29, Kurdish government announced that it began to transmit petroleum to oilers stopping at Ceyhan Harbor, Turkey through the pipelines.

 

Based on Iraqi constitution, Iraqi petroleum resources belong to all of Iraqi. All of revenue should be distributed equally, by Iraqi central government. However, central government has serious disagreement with local government about oil exploration and revenue distribution. Drafts about petroleum are always not passing through congress. In recent years, Kurdish local government has signed some petroleum exploration and sale contract by itself, including exporting petroleum through oil truck directly.