...

Iran denies smuggling Iraq oil

Iran Materials 19 April 2012 17:36 (UTC +04:00)

Azerbaijan, Baku, April 19 / Trend D.Khatinoglu/
Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi has said Iran has never smuggled the Iraqi Kurdistan region's oil.
"It's not possible to transit Iraqi Kurdistan oil by land oil carriers," the Mehr news agency quoted Qasemi as saying on Thursday.
Iraqo Deputy Prime Minister for Energy Hussain al-Shahristani said on April 2 that most oil produced in the country's autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan is being smuggled across borders, mainly to Iran, instead of fulfilling its export obligations, Reuters reported.
His charges came after Iraqi Kurdistan on Sunday halted oil exports -which were around 50,000 barrels per day - to protest against the central government's failure to pay oil companies there, the latest clash in its long-running oil dispute with Baghdad.
"Most of the crude produced in the region is being smuggled through borders and mainly to Iran," Shahristani told reporters. "We have discussed with Iran and Turkey about controlling joint borders to stop smuggling crude."
Kurdish oil exports are a fraction of the OPEC nation's shipments, but the payment dispute feeds into a wider conflict between Iraqi Arabs and Kurds over autonomy, oil and land that risks upsetting Iraq's fragile sectarian and ethnic balance.

Tags:
Latest

Latest