Kurdistan Regional Government News

Iraq has issued a warrant for the arrest of the former governor of Nineveh on corruption charges after at least 90 people were killed in a ferry accident in the provincial capital Mosul, two court officials said on Wednesday.The warrant also included the arrest of some local officials after a court investigation concluded they colluded with the former governor in misusing their powers and committed financial violations, a Mosul court judge said.A member of parliament has tweeted a copy of the arrest warrant.Responding to a formal request by Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi, Iraq's parliament voted on Sunday to sack Governor Nawfal Hammadi al-Sultan after the overloaded ferry capsized in the Tigris river last week.Abdul Mahdi's letter to parliament accused Sultan of negligence…

The Neverland tanker has reappeared off the coast of Malta after going off radar near Canada on June 30, when it was chartered by oil trader Vitol carrying Iraqi Kurdish crude oil, Reuters ship-tracking showed on Friday. The tanker had been heading to eastern Canada to discharge the cargo at the end of June when the Federal Court of Canada issued a seizure order for the cargo at the request of Iraq's oil ministry. Iraq alleges the cargo was unlawfully misappropriated by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and sold to Vitol. Along with the seizure request made to Canada, the ministry filed a separate claim against Vitol and two subsidiaries for $32.5 million. The tanker appears empty, according to the draft on the ship tracking system.

The Federal Court of Canada has ordered the seizure of a 721,915-barrel cargo of crude from Kurdistan aboard the "Neverland" oil tanker on the request of the Iraq Oil Ministry, court documents show. The Iraq Oil Ministry has also filed a claim against commodity trading house Vitol S.A. and subsidiaries including Mansel Ltd, the charterer of the ship, and affiliate Finaval SpA di Navigazione, the owner of the ship, for $32.5 million. Iraq claims the cargo was unlawfully misappropriated by the Kurdistan Regional Government and sold to Vitol to be loaded onto the "Neverland." Vitol declined to comment. The court action, dated June 29, is…

Clinton vs. Trump. Perhaps one of the most important presidential elections in U.S. history, the 2016 Election Day results with have impacts felt far and wide – and all throughout maritime industry. A proverb common to both Greek and Turkish cultures states that a wolf may change its fur, but does not change its nature (Ο λύκος την τρίχα αλλάζει, το χούι δεν τ`αλλάζει /Kurt tüyünü değiştirir, huyunu değiştirmez). In English, we might render this “a leopard cannot change its spots.” If we are to believe the proverb…

Kurdistan reasserted its right to export oil independently to the United States and other countries on Tuesday despite a court ruling in favour of the Iraqi federal government, which has sought to block crude sales from the autonomous region. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans on Monday dismissed the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)'s bid to overturn an earlier ruling against a planned sale of oil to an unidentified buyer in the U.S. Iraq's federal government filed a lawsuit in a U.S. court last year to thwart the sale of the one million barrel cargo from the Kurdistan region in an ongoing dispute over the right to export oil. The tanker was stuck off U.S.

After being stuck in legal limbo for six months, a tanker loaded with 1 million barrels of Kurdish crude headed east on Tuesday to leave U.S. waters after Baghdad and the Kurds reached a deal to share oil revenue. The United Kalavrvta tanker, which had been anchored in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico since July, was headed across the Atlantic to Gibraltar, said the vessel's operator, Marine Management Services, based in Greece. It added that is has not received any orders to discharge the cargo. Last week, motions filed in a Houston court by lawyers for Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government showed the vessel would soon have to move to another destination in order to pass special surveys designed to maintain its class certification.

The Obama administration on Thursday threatened to slap sanctions on anyone buying oil from Islamic State militants in an effort to disrupt what it said was a $1-million-a-day funding source. Islamic State has seized large swaths of Iraq and Syria in a brutal campaign, and could pose a threat to the United States and its allies if it is not stopped, U.S. Treasury Undersecretary David Cohen said. "With the important exception of some state-sponsored terrorist organizations, ISIL is probably the best-funded terrorist organization we have confronted," Cohen said, referring to another name for Islamic State. He spoke at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Genel Energy reports that following a significant improvement in the security situation in the border region of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq ('KRI'), the Company has begun the process of returning staffing levels to normal. This follows the temporary and precautionary step of withdrawing non-essential personnel from non-producing assets. Genel's primary consideration is the safety and well-being of their employees. The decision to resume full operations has been made following a close monitoring of the situation, and in consultation with the Kurdistan Regional Government, Foreign and Commonwealth Office of the British Government, and other well-placed authorities. Genel's operations in the KRI remain safe and secure.

Iraq said it filed a lawsuit against Greek shipping company Marine Management Services (MMS) for its role in the export of crude from the Kurdistan region, which Baghdad says is illegal. The case is the latest move by Baghdad to deter customers and thwart independent exports of crude from the autonomous Kurdistan region. The federal government claims sole authority to manage sales of all the oil in Iraq. The Iraqi oil ministry said on Thursday that MMS operated five vessels that had transported oil on behalf of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) from a Turkish port.

Iraq has filed a case against Greek shipping company Marine Management Services (MMS) for its role in the "illegal" export of crude from the autonomous Kurdistan region, the oil ministry in Baghdad said in a statement on Thursday. The lawsuit is the latest move by Baghdad to deter customers and thwart independent exports of crude from Kurdistan. The federal government claims sole authority to manage sales of all the oil in Iraq. The statement said MMS operated five vessels that had transported crude oil on behalf of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) from a Turkish port. "MMS is liable for damages of at least $318 million, and possibly significantly more, as a result of its willing and active participation in the KRG's illegal crude oil export scheme," the statement read.

The tanker carrying $100 million worth of disputed Kurdish crude oil is moving for the first time since July 27, AIS ship tracking data showed on Wednesday. The status of the tanker, called United Kalavrvta, changed to "underway using engine" from "at anchor", but it was still 95 percent full, the data used by the U.S. Coast Guard and Reuters showed. The ship was still in the Galveston Offshore Lightering Area, with Galveston still listed as its destination, according to satellite tracking. The ship has been in limbo for weeks after its would-be buyer balked at taking delivery of the cargo. Baghdad has filed a lawsuit in a U.S. court saying exports by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) are illegal, while the KRG argues they are allowed under the Iraqi constitution.

Iraqi Kurdistan has shipped 8.8 million barrels of oil from the Turkish port of Ceyhan since May, Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said, as the autonomous region employs new tactics to establish independent oil sales in defiance of Baghdad. Sources and energy officials had told Reuters on Thursday that the sales from Ceyhan via the autonomous regions new pipeline were more than 8 million barrels in 11 tankers. A U.S. court on Monday threw out an order to seize some 1 million barrels of disputed Iraqi Kurdish crude oil from a tanker near Texas, a move that could allow the cargo to be delivered and end a nearly month-long impasse. "The U.S.

A tanker carrying 300,000 barrels of Kurdish crude oil has changed its destination to Limassol, Cyprus, as it returned from the United States without delivering its disputed cargo to a New Jersey refiner. The Minerva Joy tanker had previously listed its destination as "Gibraltar orders," which usually implies a destination in the Eastern Mediterranean or further east. It changed its destination to "Limassol orders" at around 1600 GMT on Saturday, according to Reuters AIS Live shiptracking. On Aug. 13, the Minerva Joy began sailing eastwards from off the coast of Paulsboro, New Jersey, after refiner Axeon Specialty Products said it would not buy or accept delivery of any cargoes of disputed Kurdish crude oil for its Paulsboro refinery.

A tanker carrying crude oil from Iraqi Kurdistan reappeared unladen on Aug. 19 about 30 kilometres off the coast of Israel, ship tracking data on Reuters showed. This is the second time the Kamari has appeared in the area in the last two weeks carrying Kurdish oil. The tanker Kamari was partly laden north of Egypt's Sinai on Aug. 17, tracking showed, before it turned off its satellite transponder until early on Aug. 19. It was not possible to determine where the oil had been delivered to or who the buyer was. A spokesman for the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Ministry of Natural Resources did not immediately respond to phone calls and emails seeking comment on Wednesday. The KRG has previously denied selling oil to Israel "directly or indirectly".

U.S. refiners will refrain from buying Kurdish crude oil until a long-running dispute between Baghdad and Iraqi Kurdistan is settled, while Washington urges both sides to set aside their differences and helps them tackle Sunni militants. The two known U.S. buyers of Kurdish crude oil have now rejected delivery of cargoes from tankers near New Jersey and Texas, saying they will not make further purchases until it is determined who has the right to sell the oil: the central government of Iraq or the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). U.S. refiner Axeon Specialty Products was the latest company to turn away a cargo of Kurdish crude oil on Monday. It balked after Baghdad filed a lawsuit over a cargo slated for another U.S. refiner, LyondellBasell NV.

U.S. refiner Axeon Specialty Products said it won't buy or accept delivery of any cargoes of disputed Kurdish Shaikan crude oil for its Paulsboro, New Jersey refinery, according to a press release received on Monday. Several cargoes of the oil have recently reached U.S. soil and Iraq's central government has moved to block independent exports of crude by the Kurdistan Regional Government. Earlier this month, refiner LyondellBasell, confirmed it recently purchased "modest quantities" of what public records show is Kurdish Shaikan crude and said it would scrap further purchases of the disputed oil for the time being.   Reporting By Terry Wade

Brent crude slipped under $105 a barrel on Monday, dropping from a one-week high hit on Friday, as U.S. intervention in Iraq eased concerns over the risk of disruption to supply from OPEC's second-largest producer. * U.S. Analysts have said that U.S. air strikes on Islamic State targets in northern Iraq over the weekend could help enforce stability in the country, curbing the risk of supply disruptions. Iraqi Kurdistan said on Friday that its oil output remained unaffected. "For this week, there's going to be one word on traders' lips, and that word is 'Iraq'," said Ben Le Brun, a market analyst at OptionsXpress in Sydney. September Brent crude dropped 5 cents to $104.97 a barrel by 0642 GMT.

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) of Iraq asked a U.S. court on Monday to throw out an order to seize some 1 million barrels of disputed crude oil and allow the cargo to be freely delivered in Texas. The United Kalavrvta tanker, carrying about $100 million worth of Kurdish crude, has been anchored near Texas for nine days, as the Iraqi region of Kurdistan wages a legal battle over ownership with the central government of Iraq. At the request of Baghdad, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas ordered the U.S. Marshals Service to take control of the cargo last week, but then said the tanker was outside its jurisdiction and beyond U.S. territory in the Gulf of Mexico.

Iraqi Kurdistan's attempts to export oil independently of Baghdad hit another obstacle on Wednesday, as a Turkish energy official and industry sources said the autonomous region's pipeline to the Mediterranean has been shut for the past week. The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has not launched any oil tankers from the Turkish port of Ceyhan in over a month as Baghdad has moved to block the vessels from unloading at foreign ports. The latest set-back comes as Iraqi Kurdistan's increasingly bitter legal and diplomatic struggle with Baghdad over oil sales threatens to spill over into the United States. Arguing all oil sales outside its control are illegal…

Part of a Kurdish oil cargo has been offloaded from a Greek-managed tanker into another tanker in the South China Sea, but mystery surrounds the identity of the buyer and where the two tankers are headed. The United Emblem, which is carrying more than 1 million barrels of oil, is one of three tankers loaded with oil from the autonomous Kurdish region, which is trying to sell oil independently. Iraqi Kurdistan is locked in a bitter legal and diplomatic struggle with Baghdad over international oil sales. A U.S. judge on Tuesday refused a request by Baghdad, citing a lack of jurisdiction, to seize 1 million barrels of oil aboard the United Kalavrvta tanker, which has been anchored off the port of Galveston since the weekend.

A $100 million cargo of crude oil in a tanker near Texas was legally shipped and sold by Kurdistan, lawyers for the autonomous region in Iraq told a U.S. court in a letter seen on Thursday, saying Baghdad has no right to the barrels. They also told the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas that it has no jurisdiction over Kurdish affairs. Baghdad, in a lawsuit filed with the court earlier this week, said that only it has the authority to export oil under Iraq's constitution, a view that autonomous Kurdistan government rejects. "The oil cargo in question belonged to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) before it was legally shipped and sold pursuant to KRG's authority under the 2005 Iraqi Constitution and subsequent Kurdistan law…

Axeon Specialty Products said on Friday it received a cargo of Kurdish Shaikan crude oil in June at its Paulsboro refinery in the United States. Several cargoes of the oil have recently reached U.S. soil and Iraq's central government has moved to block independent exports of crude by the Kurdistan Regional Government. "Axeon SP was the importer of record for the June shipment," a company official said. "We purchased this cargo on a delivered Paulsboro, New Jersey basis from a reputable supplier." On Thursday, refiner Lyondell Basell, confirmed it recently purchased "modest quantities" of what public records show is Shaikan crude but said it would scrap further purchases of the disputed oil for the time being. (Reporting By Terry Wade)

Baghdad wants to settle a high-stakes dispute over $100 million worth of Kurdish crude oil in Iraq's  courts, although the oil is sitting in a tanker off the coast of Texas, a U.s. court filing  said on Friday. Iraq's central government has also asked Iraq's Federal Supreme Court to block the Kurdistan Regional Government from exporting any crude until its ownership can be determined, said the filing in federal court in Houston. The central government contends it belongs to the country as a whole, not just the Kurdistan region. The latest legal challenge follows Iraq in May bringing criminal charges against the Kurdistan government, alleging theft of oil revenues. However, Kurdistan has failed to appear in court to address the charges, the filing said.