Iraq Threatens Kurds With U.N. Action Iraq Said It Planned to Complaint to the United Nations About Oil Exports by the Semi-Autonomous Kurdish Region Iraq said it would complain to the United Nations about oil exports by the semiautonomous Kurdish region, as the Kurds shipped more crude. The appeal to the international organization would be the latest step by Baghdad to try to stanch oil sales it says undermine Iraqi sovereignty and are illegal, but that the Kurds say are their constitutional right. Baghdad on Monday warned of more lawsuits against the Kurdish region and against Turkey, which is assisting the Kurds to export the oil. Baghdad has already filed an international arbitration complaint against Turkey. Iraq Oil Minister Abdul Kareem Luaiby, speaking ahead of a meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries in Vienna, said we are about to inform the United Nations about these breaches of U.N. resolutions by the Kurdish region. Mr. Luaiby also warned that Iraqs $15 billion in bilateral trade with Turkey also stands to suffer. Kurdish authorities shipped a second cargo of oil from Turkeys Ceyhan port on Monday, doubling the amount of crude it has exported since late May. The United Emblem, registered in Greece, arrived in the Mediterranean Turkish port Sunday morning from Spain and set sail for an undisclosed destination Monday afternoon, according to data from ship-tracking websites. Palmali Shipping, the ships agent, confirmed the departure The tanker is carrying about a million barrels of crude from the Kurdistan Regional Government, or KRG, according to two people familiar with the shipment. Kurdistan sent its maiden voyage of crude exports from the port late last month. The region has been pumping its oil from northern Iraq to Turkey since December. Kurds are piping about 100,000 barrels of oil daily to Ceyhan, Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said Friday, when KRG crude stored at the port stood at about 2.8 million barrels. Turkey will continue to facilitate shipments as Kurdish official sell more crude, Mr. Yildiz said, arguing that the transactions are conducted transparently in accordance with Iraqi laws. The second shipment comes even as the ultimate destination of the first cargo remains unclear. The United Leadership, registered in the Marshall Islands, initially set sail last month for the U.S. Gulf Coast, and then reversed course to call on Moroccos Atlantic port of Mohammedia. It continues to linger off the Moroccan coast. Kurdish officials havent disclosed the buyer for either shipment. Mr. Luaiby also said on Monday that Iraqs oil production will reach 8.4 million barrels a day sometime after 2018. Iraqs oil production surged to a 35-year high in February but has since fallen back amid technical problems in the south and an attack on a northern pipeline that cut off exports from the Kirkuk oil field. Mr. Luaiby said the country is currently exporting 2.6 million barrels a day and is targeting an average production of 3.7 million barrels a day this year
Posted on: Tue, 10 Jun 2014 13:18:03 +0000
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