International court obliges Turkey to pay $1.5 billion for Kurdistan’s oil
Oil pipelines in Iraq. Photo: Reuters
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – An international arbitration panel obliged Turkey to pay 1.5 billion USD to Iraq for oil exports from Iraqi Kurdistan through Ceyhan port between 2014-2018 without Baghdad’s approval.
Iraq won a lawsuit against Ankara in the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris.
The lawsuit was filed against Turkey for violating the provisions of the Iraqi-Turkish pipeline agreement signed in 1973.
The agreement stipulates that the Turkish government must abide by the instructions of the Iraqi side regarding the movement of crude oil exported from Iraq to all storage and disposal centers and the final station.
The lawsuit dates back to 2014, during the reign of former Prime Minister, Nouri Al-Maliki.
Member of the Oil, Gas and Natural Resources Committee in the Iraqi Parliament, Zainab Al-Moussawi, explained that the ruling obliges Turkey to pay 1.5 billion USD to Iraq for exporting Kurdish oil through the port of Ceyhan between 2014 and 2018 without Baghdad’s approval, Al-Jazeera reported.
Iraq suspended crude oil exports of 450 thousand barrels per day from the Kurdistan region and oilfields in Kirkuk in northern Iraq, after winning the case against Turkey.
A source mentioned that Turkey informed Baghdad that it will respect the ruling issued by the International Court of Arbitration.
Turkish shipping officials told Iraqi employees in Ceyhan oil export center that no ship would be allowed to load shipments of Kurdish crude without the approval of the Iraqi government, according to Reuters.
Reuters also indicated that Turkey stopped pumping Iraqi crude through the pipeline leading to Ceyhan.
A delegation from the Iraqi Oil Ministry is expected to visit Turkey soon to meet with Turkish energy officials to agree on new mechanisms for exporting Iraqi crude oil in a manner consistent with the arbitration decision.
The pipeline between Iraq and Turkey can pump up to 900 thousand barrels per day, representing approximately one percent of the total daily global demand, but 500 thousand barrels are currently being pumped from oilfields in northern Iraq.