Iraq’s Federal Supreme Court relies on geologists to finalize Erbil-Baghdad oil dispute

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Iraqi Federal Supreme Court has announced another postponement of hearings for a lawsuit by the Iraqi Ministry of Oil against the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) oil exports to international markets.

The hearings for a lawsuit regarding the KRG’s oil exports to international markets are postponed for Sep. 9, and the court will rely on an expert to finalize the case, Ayas al-Samuk, a spokesperson for the Federal Court, said in a statement on Wednesday.

“The federal court decided to approach the Iraqi Geologists Syndicate to prepare a list of experts in the oil field and elect three of them to present a report related to a lawsuit regarding production and direct sale of oil by the Kurdistan Region,” the spokesperson stated.

Erbil and Baghdad would have to agree on the experts before they are appointed, he added.

“The representatives of Iraq’s ministries of Oil and Finance and Council of Ministers, and the KRG’s Ministry of Natural Resources and the KRG Council of Ministers participated in the hearing,” Samuk noted.

According to the statement, representatives of the KRG Council of Ministers and National Resources had submitted a request to reject the previous expert the Court had assigned. It also explained that the court discovered the previously-appointed expert had already commented on the Erbil-Baghdad oil dispute.

In a statement on Aug. 16, Amanj Raheem, a legal advisor and Cabinet Secretary at the KRG, said the Kurdish government had the right to reject any expert appointed by the Federal Supreme Court if the expert had made previous remarks about the dispute.

The KRG began to export its oil to international markets independently through Turkey’s Ceyhan port in 2014 after the Federal Government of Iraq cut the Region’s national budget share at the start of the same year.

The export of oil sparked tensions between Erbil and Baghdad. Oil revenue distribution has been one of the most pressing issues between the two governments.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany