Iraq/Kurdistan: Exclusive: How Kurdistan Bypassed Baghdad and Sold Oil on Global Markets

Nov 17, 2015 | Dmitry Zhdannikov, Reuters
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Iraq's semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan has for the first time detailed its secretive oil exports operations and said it plans to sell more, whether Baghdad likes it or not, as it needs money to survive and fight Islamic State. The region's minister for natural resources, Ashti Hawrami, said that to avoid detection oil was often funneled through Israel, transferred directly between ships off the coast of Malta, and decoy ships used to make it harder for Baghdad to track.