Nine foreign firms demand $24B in compensation for halted Iraqi oil exports
Shafaq News/ Nine foreign companies are demanding $24 billion incompensation following the cessation of oil exports due to legal disputessurrounding their contracts with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG),according to Iraqi economist Nabil al-Marsoumi.
“The companies involved are Addax Petroleum Corporation, Dana Gas, DNOASA, Gazprom Neft, Genel Energy PLC, Gulf Keystone Petroleum, HKN Energy,ShaMaran Petroleum, and WesternZagros,” al-Marsoumi detailed, noting that thecompensation claims stem from losses incurred after the suspension of oilexports.
The Karkh Court of Appeal rejected an appeal by Iraq’s Oil Ministry andupheld the validity of the contracts, which it ruled to be "legallybinding and enforceable" for all parties involved. The court furtherasserted that no external entity has the authority to challenge theagreements.
The court clarified that the Federal Supreme Court's February 2022ruling, which deemed the legal basis for the contracts unconstitutional, “couldnot be retroactively applied to agreements signed before that decision. Thisinterpretation aligns with a general principle of Iraqi civil law.”
Last September, members of the Association of the Petroleum Industry ofKurdistan (APIKUR) called for the immediate resumption of oil exports throughthe Iraq–Turkiye Pipeline (ITP).
The companies urged the Iraqi government to engage with the KurdistanRegional Government (KRG) and international oil companies in tripartite talksaimed at reopening the 600-mile pipeline.
APIKUR, which represents eight foreign oil companies operating in theKurdistan region—DNO, Genel Energy, Gulf Keystone, HKN Energy, Hunt Oil, MOL,Shamaran Petroleum, and WesternZagros—stressed the urgency of restoring thevital export route.
The pipeline has been closed since March 2023, when Turkiye shut it downfollowing a ruling by the International Chamber of Commerce's InternationalCourt of Arbitration. The court ordered Ankara to pay approximately $1.5billion in damages to Iraq for transporting oil without Baghdad’s consent.
Before the suspension, the pipeline carried about 450,000 barrels perday (bpd) to international markets, accounting for roughly 0.5% of global crudesupply. APIKUR estimates that the halt has resulted in $20 billion in losses forall parties involved.
