By Dmitry Zhdannikov (Reuters) Iraqi state oil company SOMO has actually blacklisted 3 vessels associated with delivery crude from Kurdistan, tipping up stress on the semi-autonomous area in the middle of strained talks on sharing oil profits.

Kurdistan has actually been exporting unrefined separately using Turkey because mid-2015 after stating Baghdad had actually stopped working to value an oil revenue-sharing offer and also transfer sufficient cash to Erbil.

Baghdad, which exports a lot of its oil from the Gulf, has actually claimed Erbil was not exporting sufficient crude under the offer.

Last week SOMO sent out market individuals a letter– seen by stating it would certainly no more permit the ships Maran Centaurus, Four Smile and also SN Olivia, which had actually been delivering Kurdish oil, to get in Iraqi ports or export its crude.

Baghdad has actually on a regular basis sent out such letters in the past. It had actually avoided doing so in current months as it was getting ready for brand-new talks on revenue-sharing with Kurdistan and also had actually returned to delivery crude from the north Kirkuk areas to Kurdistan.

SOMO did not instantly react to an ask for talk about the most recent letter.

The semi-autonomous area exports around 500,000 barrels daily (bpd) of its very own crude from the Turkish Mediterranean port ofCeyhan Baghdad’s deliveries to Kurdistan of Kirkuk crude, which it rebooted previously this month, have actually been just half the formerly provided 180,000 bpd.

Baghdad claimed recently it might draw away the Kirkuk crude to Iran by vehicle as opposed to sending it to Kurdistan using pipe if the talks on revenue-sharing damaged down.

The relocation might even more weaken Kurdistan, whose funds have actually been sapped by its battle versus Islamic State militants. The area’s oil exports do not cover its spending plan demands.

Diverting oil to Iran might likewise harm the unity of Iraqi Kurdistan, which had actually been relying on extra crude from Kirkuk.

The just means SOMO might vehicle oil to Iran would certainly be with the main Kurdish area of Suleimaniya, regulated by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, a competitor of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Kurdish President Masoud Barzani in Erbil.

“The move could be very divisive for the Kurds but also it could set a precedent for other political parties in Iraq to demand their own oil,” a federal government resource in Erbil claimed.

Sending crude to Iran would certainly likewise entail substantially greater trucking prices– approximated at approximately $20 per barrel– than sending out oil by pipe to the Mediterranean, therefore even more minimizing incomes from oil exports.

(Reporting by Dmitry Zhdannikov; Editing by Dale Hudson)

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