June 14:
ERBIL-Hewlêr, Kurdistan region 'Iraq',— The first large cargoes of Kurdish oil, whose sale was impeded by Baghdad and Washington, have been sold to buyers in Austria and India, an official Kurdish source told Rudaw.
The Kurdish oil, picked up since late May by two tankers at the Turkish port of Ceyhan where the Kurds have a pipeline, had been adrift without firm buyers, following pressure by Baghdad and Washington.
But the demonstrated weakness of the Iraqi state, as it trembles against an advance by insurgents who have taken major Iraqi cities and are advancing toward Baghdad, may have diminished concerns about Baghdad’s famous blacklist for any firms who buy Kurdish oil exports.
Erbil’s bargaining power has risen tremendously, as Baghdad and Washington both look to the Kurdish Peshmerga military to step in and help stop the dangerous sweep by insurgents.
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the Iraqi federal government have been embroiled in disputes over the region’s oil exports for years now, with the Kurds insisting on going ahead with independent sales, and Baghdad calling them illegal.
The stand-off reached a head when the United Leadership tanker loaded the first million barrels of piped Kurdish
The Iraqi government reacted furiously, bringing a suit gainst Turkey and its pipeline operator to the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris.
A second tanker, the United Emblem, sailed on June 9, just before an Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) meeting in Vienna, where Iraqi Oil Minister Abdul Kareem Luaibiwww.Ekurd.netthreatened “severe measures."
Baghdad’s response -- and apparent behind-the-scenes opposition by the United States – had been enough to scare off potential buyers.
Many industry insiders in Kurdistan, weary from years of inconclusive talks with Baghdad, struggle to suppress their delight at recent developments that have Increased the KRG’s bargaining power.
An oil executive close to the KRG told The Independent newspaper that, "If al-Maliki wants to get the Kurdish army on his side, he knows he has to relent on allowing them oil exports. So people out here are seeing this could draw al-Maliki into the deal they wanted."
Source: http://www.ekurd.net/mismas/articles/misc2014/6/state8084.htm?
ERBIL-Hewlêr, Kurdistan region 'Iraq',— The first large cargoes of Kurdish oil, whose sale was impeded by Baghdad and Washington, have been sold to buyers in Austria and India, an official Kurdish source told Rudaw.
The Kurdish oil, picked up since late May by two tankers at the Turkish port of Ceyhan where the Kurds have a pipeline, had been adrift without firm buyers, following pressure by Baghdad and Washington.
But the demonstrated weakness of the Iraqi state, as it trembles against an advance by insurgents who have taken major Iraqi cities and are advancing toward Baghdad, may have diminished concerns about Baghdad’s famous blacklist for any firms who buy Kurdish oil exports.
Erbil’s bargaining power has risen tremendously, as Baghdad and Washington both look to the Kurdish Peshmerga military to step in and help stop the dangerous sweep by insurgents.
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the Iraqi federal government have been embroiled in disputes over the region’s oil exports for years now, with the Kurds insisting on going ahead with independent sales, and Baghdad calling them illegal.
The stand-off reached a head when the United Leadership tanker loaded the first million barrels of piped Kurdish
The Iraqi government reacted furiously, bringing a suit gainst Turkey and its pipeline operator to the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris.
A second tanker, the United Emblem, sailed on June 9, just before an Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) meeting in Vienna, where Iraqi Oil Minister Abdul Kareem Luaibiwww.Ekurd.netthreatened “severe measures."
Baghdad’s response -- and apparent behind-the-scenes opposition by the United States – had been enough to scare off potential buyers.
Many industry insiders in Kurdistan, weary from years of inconclusive talks with Baghdad, struggle to suppress their delight at recent developments that have Increased the KRG’s bargaining power.
An oil executive close to the KRG told The Independent newspaper that, "If al-Maliki wants to get the Kurdish army on his side, he knows he has to relent on allowing them oil exports. So people out here are seeing this could draw al-Maliki into the deal they wanted."
Source: http://www.ekurd.net/mismas/articles/misc2014/6/state8084.htm?
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