Crude exports from KRI and Kirkuk to Turkey halted after ICC ruling

Iraq halted crude exports from the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) and northern Kirkuk fields on Saturday, after the country won a longstanding arbitration case against Turkey.

The decision to stop shipments of 450,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude relates to a case from 2014, when Baghdad claimed that Turkey violated a joint agreement by allowing the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to export oil through a pipeline to the Turkish port of Ceyhan.

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) ruled in favor of Iraq on Thursday, followed by a statement by Turkish authorities who said they will respect the arbitration ruling.

On Saturday, Iraq stopped pumping oil through its side of the pipeline which runs from its northern Kirkuk oil fields.

Iraq had been pumping 370,000 bpd of KRG crude and 75,000 bpd of federal crude through the pipeline, according to a source familiar with its operations.

"A delegation from the oil ministry will travel to Turkey soon to meet energy officials to agree on new mechanism to export Iraq's northern crude oil in line with the arbitration ruling," a second oil ministry official said.

Iraq will discuss with the relevant authorities ways to ensure the continuation of oil exports through Ceyhan and state-owned SOMO's (State Organization for Marketing of Oil) obligations with oil companies, Iraq's oil ministry said in a statement.

A KRG delegation is to visit Baghdad on Sunday to discuss energy issues, the Prime Minister of Iraq's Kurdistan region Masrour Barzani said in a tweet.

The ruling, in which Turkey has been ordered to pay Iraq around $1.5 billion before interest, covers 2014-2018, according to a source who spoke on condition of anonymity.

A second arbitration case, which the source expects to take around two years, will cover the period from 2018 onward.