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Baghdad threatens to sue over independent KRG exports

SOMO asserted its exclusive rights over oil sales following the revelation of KRG oil trucking to Turkey, warning violators of impending legal action.
Tanker trucks wait to be loaded at Taq Taq oil field in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region of northern Iraq, about 350 km (220 miles) north of Baghdad, September, 5, 2012. (AZAD LASHKARI/Reuters)

In a push to assert its authority over Iraq's fractious oil sector, the federal Oil Ministry has stated its intention to seize crude, natural gas and fuel shipped outside the country without its approval and to prosecute offending companies.

The threat, issued on the website of the State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO), comes days after the revelation that the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has begun selling crude via tanker truck into Turkey. The SOMO statement does not specifically mention exports from the Kurdistan region.

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