On 11 September Iraqi Kurdistan halted oil exports.
According to Iraqi Oil Minister Abdelkarim al-Luaybi, speaking to reporters at a conference in the Jordanian capital Amman, "The government of the Kurdistan region today halted oil exports without giving reasons. This is a great loss for the Iraqi economy, as well as the Kurdish and Iraqi people in general."
Prior to the shutdown, an Iraqi Oil Ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity said that Iraqi Kurdistan's exports of 150,000 barrels of crude per day "dropped in the past two weeks to around 55,000 bpd."
The cessation of oil exports occurred after Iraq’s Kurdistan government condemned Baghdad’s proposed draft law on oil, approved by the central Iraqi government last month.
The Kurdish government called on Parliament to reject it, issuing a statement noting, "The presidency of the Kurdistan region condemns this maneuver and calls on the council of ministers to withdraw the draft immediately, because it contradicts the constitution," NOW Lebanon news agency reported.
Iraq’s cabinet passed the draft oil law and submitted it to the Iraqi parliament on August 28. The legislation divides responsibility for the nation’s oil industry between the government in Baghdad and Iraq's provinces.
By. Joao Peixe, Deputy Editor OilPrice.com
