WSJ: U.S. Court Orders Seizure of $100 Million Kurdish Oil Cargo
A U.S. court has ordered U.S. Marshals to seize a $100 million cargo of Kurdish oil on a tanker off the coast of Galveston, Texas, if it is brought ashore, adding a new twist to the long-standing dispute between Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government over oil sales.
The order, issued late Monday, could prevent the KRG from delivering the oil in the U.S., presenting a major challenge to its efforts to market oil independently from Baghdad.
The Kurds' attempt to sell its oil abroad lies at the heart of a dispute that is central to the future of Iraq as a united country. Since May, the KRG has shipped four million-barrel tankers of oil from the Turkish port of Ceyhan in defiance of Baghdad, which claims it has sole authority over Iraq's natural resources.