Iraq’s ministry of oil said it has filed a request for arbitration with the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) against Turkey and its state-owned pipeline operator BOTAS for breaching a pipeline agreement between the two countries upon the start of Kurdish crude oil exports from the Turkish port of Ceyhan.

Iraq seeks Turkey and BOTAS to stop the unauthorized transportation, storage and loading of crude oil pumped into the Iraq-Turkey pipeline by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) as well as other relief including financial damages of more than $250 million (184 million euro), Iraq’s oil ministry said in a statement on Friday.

Earlier on Friday KRG announced that that it had completed the first export sales of crude oil produced in the region and piped to the Turkish port of Ceyhan with the departure of a tanker loaded with over one million barrels of crude oil towards Europe. The revenue from the sales will be deposited in a KRG-controlled account in Halkbank in Turkey, KRG said.

Iraq’s oil ministry said Turkey and BOTAS have brached their obligations under the Iraq-Turkey Pipeline agreement by transporting, storing and loading crude oil from the northern Iraq’s semi-authonomous region of Kurdistan without the authorization of Iraq’s oil ministry. "Turkey and BOTAŞ have therefore facilitated the illegal sale of crude oil that rightfully belongs to the people of Iraq", said the ministry.

Source:SeeNews