Category: Iraq

As a tanker filled with disputed Kurdish oil sits off the coast of Texas for a fifth day, another shipment may be making its way to the East Coast. The Minerva Joy left Dortyol, Turkey, a port used to export oil trucked from the Kurdish region of Iraq , on July 23 and is due to dock in Paulsboro, New Jersey, on Aug. 11, according to shipping data compiled by Bloomberg. It would be the sixth vessel carrying Kurdish oil to the U.S. Shipping and U.S. customs data show that two of those earlier shipments may have been delivered to LyondellBasell Industries NV (LYB) ’s refinery in Houston. The London-based petrochemical company said yesterday it will stop purchasing Iraqi crude after an ownership dispute arose associated with the recent shipments it purchased. “We have canceled further purchases and will not accept delivery of any of the affected crude until […]

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There is no ban in the United States on the sale or transfer of oil from any part of Iraq, a spokeswoman for the U.S. State Department said. The crude oil tanker United Kalavryta, carrying 1 million barrels of crude from the Kurdish north of Iraq, is at anchor off the coast of Texas out of U.S. jurisdiction. The federal Iraqi government filed a case in the U.S. courts against the possible unilateral sale of oil from the semiautonomous Kurdish north of Iraq in the U.S. market. Washington has sided with Baghdad in the assertion that sales of Iraqi oil must go through the federal Iraqi government, arguing Kurdish oil sales are in violation of the Iraqi constitution. State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf told reporters Thursday the government’s policy position was clearly in line with Baghdad’s. The issue should be resolved in a manner consistent with the Iraqi constitution, […]

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There is no ban in the United States on the sale or transfer of oil from any part of Iraq, a spokeswoman for the U.S. State Department said. The crude oil tanker United Kalavryta, carrying 1 million barrels of crude from the Kurdish north of Iraq, is at anchor off the coast of Texas out of U.S. jurisdiction. The federal Iraqi government filed a case in the U.S. courts against the possible unilateral sale of oil from the semiautonomous Kurdish north of Iraq in the U.S. market. Washington has sided with Baghdad in the assertion that sales of Iraqi oil must go through the federal Iraqi government, arguing Kurdish oil sales are in violation of the Iraqi constitution. State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf told reporters Thursday the government’s policy position was clearly in line with Baghdad’s. The issue should be resolved in a manner consistent with the Iraqi constitution, […]

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The tanker carrying the fifth cargo of Kurdish crude to load out of the Turkish port of Ceyhan is currently heading south through the eastern Mediterranean with a destination of Port Said in Egypt, according to Platts vessel-tracking software c-Flow. The crude tanker Kamari finished loading its cargo of 1 million barrels of medium sour crude from the Kurdish region of northern Iraq on Thursday. Cardiff Tankers, owners of the Kamari, declined to comment. Article continues below… Oilgram News brings you fast-breaking global petroleum and gas news on and including: Industry players, upstream and downstream markets, refineries, midstream transportation and financial reports Supply and demand trends, government actions, exploration and technology Daily futures summary Weekly API statistics, and much more The flow of crude from Kurdistan has not yet been restarted following the lifting of the fifth cargo, an official from Turkey’s energy ministry said Friday. The official said […]

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The federal government of Iraq can’t win its claims in the U.S. court system against Kurdish oil exports, the Kurdish natural resources minister said Wednesday. "The federal government cannot win, because our crude is legally produced, shipped, exported, and sold in accordance with the rights of the Kurdistan region as set forth in the Iraqi constitution," Minister Ashti Hawrami said in a statement . The Iraqi federal government filed a petition in a U.S. court in Texas against a shipment of Kurdish crude oil parked off the coast of Texas. The court in turn called on U.S. Marshals to seize the oil should it enter U.S. territorial waters. U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the vessel containing about 1 million barrels of Kurdish oil, United Kalavyrta, is anchored outside U.S. jurisdiction. "Our policy position remains the same, which is that we believe that oil should be transferred through […]

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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 […]

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A tanker filled with a million barrels of legally contested Kurdish crude oil is beyond the reach of a U.S. court order to seize the cargo unless it comes closer to shore, a federal magistrate said Tuesday. For now, the embattled oil tanker, shipped in defiance of Iraq’s central government, remains in limbo 60 miles off the coast of Galveston, Texas. Federal magistrate judge Nancy Johnson on Monday ordered the U.S. Marshals to seize the oil if it came ashore. But at a hearing Tuesday, she said that the tanker hasn’t come within the boundaries of the state and the court’s authority. She also said Iraq, not Houston, was the proper venue to determine who owns the oil carried on the United Kalavrvta. "Seems to me this is not a matter for the U.S. courts to tell the government–the governments–of Iraq who owns what," she said. […]

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A report Tuesday says Talmay Trading of the British Virgin Islands is scheduled to take Kurdish crude oil loaded on a tanker parked off the coast of Texas. CNBC reports the company contracted AET Offshore Services in Dallas to unload the 1 million barrels of crude oil on board the United Kalavytra, anchored off the coast of Texas . The vessel left the Turkish sea port of Ceyhan loaded with crude oil offloaded from storage facilities housing Kurdish crude oil. Kurdish oil shipments have sparked outrage from the federal Iraqi government in Baghdad, which says unilateral exports violate the nation’s constitution. The semiautonomous Kurdistan Regional Government has defended the sales , though the U.S. State Department said it sided with Baghdad on oil export issues. "We believe that Iraq’s energy resources belong to the Iraqi people and certainly have long stated that [exports] need to go through the central […]

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The Iraqi Oil Ministry persuaded a U.S. judge to issue an order for the seizure of more than $100 million of oil in a tanker waiting off Galveston, Texas , that it claims was illegally pumped from wells in Kurdistan. Kurdish officials “misappropriated” more than 1 million barrels of oil from northern Iraq and exported it through a Turkish pipeline, according to a complaint filed yesterday in federal court in Houston. U.S. Magistrate Judge Nancy Johnson of Galveston hours later issued an order and arrest warrant authorizing U.S. marshals to seize the cargo and have it moved ashore for safekeeping until the dispute is resolved. The U.S. officially recognizes Kurdistan as part of Iraq, although the Kurdish people have jockeyed with the Baghdad-based national government for autonomy for more than a decade. Oil revenues from the northern oil fields could fuel Kurdistan’s fight for independence. The Iraqi government warned […]

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A tanker carrying a $100-million cargo of oil shipped from Iraqi Kurdistan is planning to discharge in Texas, bringing a dispute that is central to the future of Iraq as a united country to U.S. soil. The tanker, United Kalavrvta, is one of four major consignments of oil shipped by northern Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government since May in defiance of Baghdad. The government claims it has sole authority to market Iraq’s natural resources. The shipments represent a gambit by the KRG to carve out a nation for Iraq’s 6.5 million Kurds, even as the federal government in Baghdad struggles to defend its north against the Jihadist Sunni militant group, the Islamic state. The KRG’s goal to establish an independent state flies in the face of U.S. foreign policy, which is committed to maintaining a unified Iraq. So far, Washington has supported Baghdad’s efforts […]

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