Iraq ’s semi-autonomous Kurds reasserted their right to sell $100 million of crude on board a tanker off the Texas coastline after the government in Baghdad persuaded a U.S. judge to order the cargo’s seizure. The Kurdistan Regional Government wrote to the U.S. court claiming “misrepresentations” by the central government, it said in an e-mailed statement. The letter was written after Iraq’s government filed a complaint in a Houston federal court alleging that the Kurds “misappropriated” more than 1 million barrels of oil from northern Iraq. Magistrate Judge Nancy Johnson yesterday authorized marshals to seize the cargo on the tanker while the dispute is resolved. The ship, the United Kalavryta, is about 60 miles from Galveston, Texas and can only be seized should it enter U.S. territorial waters, she said. The KRG will seek compensation in any court where Kurdish oil sales are challenged, Ashti Hawrami , KRG minister […]