On April 10, 2023, the Republic of Iraq, represented by Vinson & Elkis LLP, as well as the French office of Cleary Gottlieb as of counsel, filed a petition to confirm an arbitration award in the District Court of the District of Columbia.
Iraq is seeking to confirm, and then enforce, a 2023 arbitration award arising from breaches of the "Crude Oil Pipeline Agreement, signed by the Republic of Iraq and the Republic of Turkey in 1973, with protocols, addenda, and amendments dated 1976, 1985, and 2010" of almost $1.5 billion. According to the petition, the breach resulted from "Turkey caus[ing] Iraqi crude oil pumped by the Kurdistan Regional Government (the “KRG”) to be loaded according to the KRG’s instructions, without the authorization of the Ministry of Oil of the Republic of Iraq and in contravention of its explicit instructions."
The petition may be downloaded below. The case is The Republic of Iraq v. The Republic of Turkey, No. 1:23-cv-00978 in the District Court for the District of Columbia.
Comments