Reuters news agency said that the letter, which it has seen, is the latest in a series of moves by the Iraqi Oil Ministry to try to control oil revenues from the Kurdistan region.
A ruling issued by the Federal Supreme Court of Iraq in February considered the legal foundations for the oil and gas sector in the Kurdistan region unconstitutional.
The Kurdistan Regional Government has repeatedly rejected the ruling.
The letter stated, “Strict legal measures will be taken against all concerned parties, in order to prevent the loading of those illegal shipments coming from Iraq, including but not limited to shipments coming from the Kurdistan region.”
It added, “The Iraqi Federal Oil Ministry and SOMO as a subsidiary company reserve the right to take all legal measures against any dealer or buyer of smuggled crude oil who is proven to have loaded Iraqi oil from Turkey’s Ceyhan Oil Terminal, specifically, without SOMO’s express endorsement.” The Kurdistan government declined to comment.
This move mimics a similar move by the Iraqi Oil Ministry in 2014 to prevent ships carrying crude from the Kurdistan region from unloading cargo at foreign ports.
Iraq made several attempts to implement the court’s ruling issued in February. He summoned many companies operating in Kurdistan to commercial court sessions, which were repeatedly postponed, and introduced a policy to blacklist oil field service companies if they did not withdraw from the Kurdistan region.
The latest blacklisted oilfield services companies are Weatherford International and Dubai-based OilServe, according to a source familiar with the matter.
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