An international arbitration court has ruled against Turkey in a long-running dispute with the Iraqi government regarding crude oil exports from the autonomous Kurdistan region, two Turkish sources familiar with the issue, but not authorised to speak to the press, told Middle East Eye.
The Iraqi oil ministry in a separate statement on Saturday welcomed the favourable ruling from the International Court of Arbitration that had been issued on Thursday, saying that the judgement confirmed that Iraqi national oil company SOMO is the only entity authorised to manage oil export operations through the Turkish port of Ceyhan.
The ministry said that it would discuss mechanisms for exporting Iraqi oil through the Ceyhan port, both with the Turkish government and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in Iraq, in a way that would guarantee the continuation of shipments.
Iraq sued Turkey nearly nine years ago due to an oil deal between Ankara and Erbil concerning exports through the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline. Iraq maintained for years that the Iraqi Kurdistan region doesn't have any authority to make energy exports without Baghdad's consent.
One source familiar with the lawsuit told MEE that Iraqi authorities demanded $33bn from Turkey for the damage, but couldn't get that amount. The source added that Turkey was ordered to pay Iraq $1.4bn to cover the 2014-2018 period.