Iraqi Kurdistan: US court rules on oil sales

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)’s claim to have won a legal battle in the United States confirming its right to market and sell its own crude oil internationally is not supported by a close reading of the rulings handed down by courts in Southern Texas in mid-October. In fact, the US judges decided that they did not have the right to rule either on the specific matter of the single cargo of crude that the KRG tried to import into Galveston last year, or on the more general principle that would apply to further sales of crude. After 15 months of dispute, Erbil is back to square one.