Move likely to infuriate Iraqi government in Baghdad; first 1 million barrel cargo being loaded at Ceyhan, Turkey. Tanker scheduled to sail later on Thursday, buyer not identified. Iraqi Kurdistan started loading oil from its new pipeline for shipment from a Turkish port on Thursday, defying the Baghdad government, which claims sole authority over Iraqi crude and declares any independently sold oil as 'smuggled'. The cargo of 1 million barrels of crude oil was being loaded on a tanker in the Mediterranean port of Ceyhan, Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz told Reuters on Thursday. "Loading will be completed today," Yildiz said, declining to name the buyer.
