KRG responds to Baghad's threat of legal action over oil dispute
The federal Iraqi government argues that the autonomous region’s independent oil deals are unconstitutional.
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in Iraq responded today to the federal government’s threat of legal action over their ongoing oil dispute.
Background: The KRG in northern Iraq has a high degree of autonomy, including its own laws and borders. Entities in the region export oil independently of the federal Iraqi government, including to Turkey. The arrangement has angered Baghdad for years and the federal government has tried to take control of the Kurdistan Region’s oil industry in the past.
Things have been especially tense since February, when Iraq’s federal supreme court ruled the 2007 oil and gas law unconstitutional. The KRG had used that law to develop its own energy sector and has objected to the ruling, citing constitutionality concerns.
What happened: Yesterday, Reuters reported that Iraq’s State Organization for Marketing of Oil (SOMO) had sent a letter dated Aug. 23 to buyers of oil from the Kurdistan Region threatening them with legal action.
