LONDON – A tanker carrying oil from Iraqi Kurdistan is preparing to offload at Croatia’s Adriatic sea port of Omisalj, Reuters reported Sunday, noting this was the fourth major sale of Kurdish oil and indicated Erbil was finding more buyers.
“A tanker with 80,000 cubic meters of crude oil has arrived at the Omisalj terminal and it should be unloaded on Sunday," Reuters quoted the Jutarnji List newspaper reporting, citing a source from the state-owned oil transport operator Janaf.
“Four days ago we had an announcement about a delivery of crude oil from (Iraqi) Kurdistan. It was bought by Hungary's (oil firm) MOL and the oil is for their refinery. All the documentation is in order, so I see nothing contentious in this shipment," the source was quoted as saying.
"It is indeed crude oil for MOL's refining business," the government source said on Sunday.
Reuters reported on Friday that Iraqi Kurdistan had delivered its third major cargo of crude oil from the Turkish port of Ceyhan and that a fourth was sailing to Croatia, showing the autonomous region is finding more buyers, who for the large part have so far remained anonymous.
Earlier shipments of Kurdish crude ran foul of the long running objections by Baghdad to independent Kurdish oil sales. The United States also has banned direct oil sales by the Kurds,
Two tankers, the Minerva Joy and United Kalavrvta, are reportedly stuck in limbo off US coastal waters, as they await a US decision about their Kurdish cargo.
Hungary’s MOL, which partly owns Croatia's two refineries, has invested in oilfields in Iraqi Kurdistan, Reuters said.
