Canada orders seizure of tanker carrying Kurdish oil

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) - The Federal Court of Canada has ordered the seizure of a 721,915-barrel cargo of crude oil from the Kurdistan Region’s "Neverland" oil tanker following a request by the Iraq Oil Ministry.

The Iraq Oil Ministry has also filed a claim against commodity trading house Vitol S.A. and subsidiaries including Mansel Ltd, the charterer of the ship, and affiliate Finaval SpA di Navigazione, the Italian owner of the ship.

Documents show Iraq claims the cargo was unlawfully misappropriated by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and sold to Vitol to be loaded onto the "Neverland."

The tanker loaded in Ceyhan in Turkey, according to the court documents and Reuters shipping data last showed it off the coast of Nova Scotia in the western North Atlantic. It was not immediately clear where the cargo was headed.

Last week Kurdistan's natural resources minister told Reuters its crude buyers had said they were not taking crude to the United States, a move Baghdad had previously warned the KRG against taking.

In its claim, the Iraq Oil Ministry said it had advised Vitol before it bought the cargo that any purchase of crude from the KRG would violate the rights of the people of Iraq.

Iraq is asking the case be tried in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Erbil has argued for years it remains under-compensated for its petrol assets.

However, Baghdad maintains the Iraqi oil ministry must approve oil exports from the Kirkuk field despite it being administered by the KRG.

Tensions between Erbil and Baghdad have been heightened in recent weeks as the war in Mosul against IS winds down, and the Kurds prepare for a referendum on independence scheduled for September.