Iraq halted crude oil exports from the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region and northern Kirkuk fields to Turkey on Saturday, Reuters reported, citing an Iraqi oil official.
The decision came after Iraq won a longstanding landmark legal case against Turkey over Kurdish oil exports, fought at the International Court of Arbitration of the Paris-based International Chamber of Commerce.
The court on Thursday decided in favour of Baghdad, which claimed that Turkey had violated a joint agreement by allowing the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to export oil through a pipeline to the Turkish port of Ceyhan.
Turkey has informed Iraq that it will respect the arbitration ruling, the source told Reuters. According to a document seen by the news agency, Turkish shipping officials told Iraqi employees at the Ceyhan oil export hub that no ship will be allowed to load Kurdish crude oil without the approval of the Iraqi government.
“A delegation from the oil ministry will travel to Turkey soon to meet energy officials to agree on a new mechanism for exporting Iraq’s northern crude oil in line with the arbitration ruling,” Reuters quoted a second oil ministry official as saying.
Opec’s second-largest producer Baghdad sends 75,000 barrels per day of federal crude oil and 370,000 of KRG crude oil through the pipeline to Ceyhan in Turkey.
