The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) has ruled in a longstanding arbitration case between Turkey and Iraq regarding oil exports from northern Iraq via Turkey.
On Tuesday, Turkey’s Energy Ministry announced that the ICC had ordered Iraq to pay compensation to Ankara, although the amount was not disclosed. The case centered around Iraq’s claim that Turkey had violated a joint agreement by allowing the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to export oil through a pipeline to the Turkish port of Ceyhan in 2014, which Baghdad deemed illegal.
While the ICC ruled in favor of Iraq on Thursday, ordering Turkey to pay Iraq damages related to the transport of KRG oil through the export pipeline and the discount at which KRG oil was sold, Turkey won a counter-claim for Iraq to pay a pipeline throughput fee. Reuters reported that the net amount Turkey owes Iraq is around $1.5 billion before interest.
Following the verdict, Iraq halted crude exports of 450,000 barrels per day from the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region and northern Kirkuk, which Turkey’s Energy Ministry said was a reflection of the disagreement between Iraq’s central government and Iraq’s Kurdish Regional Administration.
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