Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraq Allowed to Sue Kurds Over Texas Oil Tanker in U.S.

Jan 8, 2015 | Laurel Brubaker Calkins, Bloomberg Businessweek
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Iraq’s oil ministry can sue the Kurdistan regional government for possession of 1 million barrels of crude that have waited in a tanker circling off the Texas coast for more than five months, a U.S. judge said.

U.S. District Judge Gray Miller in Houston rejected the Kurds’ claims of sovereign immunity and said the regional government’s plans to sell its crude in the U.S. gave him authority to hear the lawsuit.

Miller had previously ruled he had no authority to hear Iraq’s dispute because the alleged misappropriation of the oil took place in Kurdistan, outside the jurisdiction of U.S. courts. After the Iraqis reworked their claim, Miller agreed the Kurds’ involvement in the U.S. oil market triggered a legal exception that properly placed the dispute over the cargo in his court.