Kurdistan opens new front in Baghdad legal battles

BAGHDAD/ERBIL - The legal battles over Kurdistan's independent oil sector entered a complicated new phase this week, as a court in Baghdad decided again on Thursday to postpone a hearing and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) initiated a separate lawsuit against the federal Oil Ministry.

Judge Mohammed Ali Mahmoud Nadeem of Baghdad's Karkh Commercial Court said the Oil Ministry's lawsuit against seven international oil companies (IOCs) operating in Kurdistan would be postponed until June 20, so that all of the defendants can be served with summonses and prepare the paperwork needed to send authorized representatives. An initial hearing on June 5 was delayed for similar reasons.