Iraq's Energy Faceoff

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Ankara's relationship with Baghdad is being tested by 1 million barrels of crude oil, sourced from Iraqi Kurdistan, on board an oil tanker sitting idle off the coast of Morocco. The tanker, owned and operated by Greece-based Marine Management Services, was chartered by the Kurdistan Regional Government and set sail May 22 from a storage facility in the Turkish port of Ceyhan, with the approval of Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz. Baghdad opposes unilateral exports by the Kurdistan Regional Government and has threatened legal action against any company that facilitates the oil's sale. The United States has backed Baghdad by emphasizing its support of Iraq's central control over oil exports.

Ankara, in league with Kurdish President Massoud Barzani's Kurdistan Democratic Party, timed the exports as Iraq is at a key juncture in the process of forming a new government. The Kurds want to play kingmaker for an eventual Shiite-dominated coalition in Baghdad, and the leadership in Iraqi Kurdistan is hoping that the threat of unilateral oil exports will enhance their leverage in negotiations, forcing Baghdad to strike an agreement on ensuring oil revenue (Baghdad, from Arbil's point of view, has been withholding large portions of oil revenue owed to the Kurds) and on allowing limited export options through Iraq's north. The Turks, meanwhile, want to ensure a stable flow of Iraqi energy and bolster their influence within the Iraqi state. To do that, Ankara is trying to draw in the United States to mediate the situation. As tensions flare, Washington will work to maintain the regional balance, key to the United States' goal of disengaging from the Middle East to focus on greater strategic priorities.

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