Iraq: Up To 400,000 Barrels Of Iraqi Oil ‘Remains Inactive’ As Kurds, Iraqi Central Government Aim To Solve Payment Issue

Dec 1, 2014 | Angelo Young, International Business Times
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The key to a permanent resolution of disputes between Iraq's central government and leaders of its semiautonomous region known as Kurdistan over what to pay for oil produced in Kurdistan lies with Turkey, according to experts. That's because Turkey, which wants to refine the as-yet-undelivered Kurdish crude oil, is mediating the dispute between Irbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, and Baghdad, Iraq's capital.

Last month Baghdad sent $500 million to a Turkish bank account held by Irbil for 150,000 barrels of oil. But Turkey wants a permanent resolution, says Iraq energy analyst Ali Semin of the Istanbul-based think tank known as Bilge Adamlar Stratejik Araştırmalar Merkezi.