Disputed KRG oil cargo stands offshore

Kurdistan Region of Iraq

HOUSTON, July 30, 2014 – A US court has said Tuesday that 1 million barrels of oil exported from the Kurdistan Region of Iraq cannot be seized by US Marshalls because the tanker, United Kalavryta, carrying the oil is too far from the Texas coast and suggested the dispute over ownership of the oil be settled in Iraq.

On Monday, the judge ordered that the oil is to be seized if it came into Texas waters after Iraqi federal officials filed a complaint saying the oil had been illegally exported.

Under the Iraqi constitution, the Kurdistan Region of Iraq claims the right to export oil from the autonomous region and has built its own pipeline to Turkey to facilitate exports.

The US supports a unified Iraq but the Kurdistan Region has expressed a desire to seek independence. Options remain for the tanker, which could try to offload in another country or another state of the US.

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