Iraqi Kurdistan region exported 1.7 million barrels of crude oil to Israel in June, report reveals

A recent report has revealed that officials in Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region exported 1.7 million barrels of crude oil to the Israeli-occupied territories throughout the month of June, despite the fact that the Arab country’s lawmakers approved a draft bill earlier this year banning the normalization of diplomatic relations with the Tel Aviv regime.

According to the Iraqi Arabic-language al-Maalomah news agency, the energy-rich region exported 446,000 barrels of oil on a daily basis last month.

Britain’s purchases of Kurdish oil exceeded five million barrels per day (bpd) while Croatian imports went beyond 2.8 million barrels.

Moreover, Turkey and Israel each imported over 1.7 barrels of crude from the Kurdistan region during the month of June.

The report went on to note that the export of more than 11 million barrels of crude oil in June brought in revenues worth over 1.5 billion US dollars for the Kurdistan region.

Back on June 17, an Iraqi politician called on the Baghdad government to open an in-depth investigation into reports that shipments of crude oil had been smuggled out of Kurdistan to Israel.

“The smuggling of oil from Kurdistan to Tel Aviv, which is being carried out under the supervision of ruling parties in Erbil [the capital of Iraq's Kurdistan region), is no longer a secret. Three oil tankers are now operating for such a purpose in Turkish ports, and the whole process enjoys the full support of the Turkish government,” independent Kurdish politician Othman Hassan Pasha said at the time.

He added, “Turkey is involved in the procedure in exchange for large financial discounts,” noting that between 40,000 and 80,000 barrels of crude oil are estimated to arrive at Israeli ports per week.

“The smuggling of oil, which floods the treasury of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) with millions of dollars every day, has adversely affected the lives of millions of Kurds in light of a stifling fuel crisis,” Pasha pointed out.

According to a Financial Times report, more than two-thirds of Israel's oil are imported from the Iraqi Kurdistan region.

The Kurdistan Regional Government has repeatedly denied that it deals directly or indirectly with Israel, with KRG officials pointing out that oil cargoes often change hand several times before reaching its final destination. 

Italy, France and Greece are reportedly big buyers of Kurdish crude, using pre-pay deals brokered by large oil trading companies, the FT reported.

Back on May 11, Iraqi lawmakers approved a draft bill banning any normalization of ties with Israel.

The Iraqi parliament’s information office said in a statement that the bill is meant to safeguard the national and Islamic principles in Iraq, given the grave dangers of normalization with the regime.

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