KRG Ministry of Natural Resources

27 June 2014 - Erbil, Kurdistan Region, Iraq (MNR.KRG.org) - Immediately after the KRG’s first export shipment on the United Leadership vessel in Ceyhan Terminal, the Iraqi Federal Oil Minister (the “Minister”) submitted a formal request to the Federal Supreme Court in Baghdad, (the “Court”) asking the Court to rule against the KRG Ministry of Natural Resources and prevent it exporting oil out of the Kurdistan Region.

On 23^rd June 2014, the Court convened a special meeting to address the Minister’s request and, after examining the reasoning behind his request, the Court decided unanimously to reject the request of the Minister “for being contrary to the applicable legal contexts in Iraq.”

It is worth noting here that the Minister’s claims were based on his own interpretation of constitutional provisions to claim that the oil and gas affairs fall within the exclusive powers of the federal government. In so claiming, the Minister was relying on the centralized laws enacted prior to 2003, thus ignoring the fact that current constitutional provisions do not incorporate any oil and gas matters within Article 110, which defines the  exclusive powers of the federal government.

With this Court decision, the Kurdistan Regional Government has another important clarification of its acquired rights as stated in the Constitution.  The Court ruling was taken by a unanimous decision of all its members, and it explicitly rejected the request made by the Minister. Such a decision by the highest court in the land is binding on the Minister and cannot be challenged in any way.

This is a clear victory for justice and for upholding KRG’s rights, despite the Iraqi Federal Oil Ministry ‘s interferences and unjustifiable interventions. This decision clearly demonstrates that the Federal Oil ministry and its marketing arm (SOMO) will also fail in all their reckless efforts on the international level.

This judicial decision by the Supreme Federal Court must be respected, and now we call upon the Federal Oil Ministry, SOMO and all their helpers to abandon their illegal and unconstitutional interventions to prevent oil exports from the Kurdistan Region. They must also cease sending intimidating and threatening letters or making false claims to prospective traders and buyers of oil exported legally by the Kurdistan Regional Government for the benefit of the people of Kurdistan and Iraq. The signed Iraq Supreme Federal Court decision in Arabic is available to read here.