KABUL: (MEP) A Turkish Energy official said that ISIS & Iraqi Kurdistan oil is sold to Israel via Turkey, Today’ Zaman reported.
While Turkey’s Energy Minister Taner Yilmaz has already stated that Germany and Italy are the main purchasers of Iraqi oil, but the Turkish Energy official says that Turkey’s Botas Company is transporting the oil to Tel Aviv through Turkish port of Ceyhan, according to the report.
He said that the tanker holding the oil initially seemed to be heading towards global crude oil markets but was rerouted back towards the Mediterranean and actually sent to Israel. Meanwhile Baghdad is seeking arbitration proceedings against Ankara over a shipment of oil from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) allegedly sold to Israel. Baghdad has reportedly sought arbitration in the International Court of Arbitration (ICC), and if Ankara is granted an unfavorable judgment, it could be required to foot the bill for the shipment, which was transported via Turkey’s Ceyhan pipeline in May of last year. According to the sources, Iraq is seeking a settlement of $1 billion from Turkey for its role in facilitating what it considers an unauthorized shipment.
In August, The Financial Times reported that in past 6 months Israel obtained 75% of its oil supplies from Iraqi Kurdistan. More than a third of such exports go through the port of Ceyhan, which the FT describe as a “potential gateway for ISIS-smuggled crude.” Israel has imported as much as three-quarters of its oil from Iraqi Kurdistan (nearly 1 billion dollars’ worth of oil) in recent months. So Israel has decreased the volumes of oil it buys from Azerbaijan. This is while Israel’s oil supply reportedly came from Russia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan.
Kurds spend a portion of its oil revenues to fight ISIS and to strengthen People’s Defense Forces, the military wing of the Democratic Union Party (the PKK’s armed wing) in Syria. But Israel purchases ISIS & Iraqi Kurdistan oil in order to support ISIS and it has decreased the volumes of oil it buys from Azerbaijan.
Financial Times says it seems that Israel is going to replace ISIS & Kurdish oil with Azerbaijan oil. ISIS oil is transported to Israel via the Turkish-Azeri company of billionaire Mubariz Gurbanoğlu.
