A US judge has dismissed a lawsuit over a disputed cargo of Iraqi Kurdish crude oil which showed up last year off the shore of Texas.
The incident prompted months of legal wrangling as Iraq sought to block the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) from directly exporting oil.
The case has now been dismissed by US District Court Judge Gray Miller because the vessel which carried the crude had sailed away after the US buyer had balked at taking delivery because of the legal fight.
The court said without a cargo there could be no dispute.
The end of the lawsuit means US courts have yet to rule decisively on the fundamental question of whether the KRG has the right to export oil from its lands without permission from Baghdad.
The KRG claimed previously the dismissal shows there is “no legal obstacle in the US or elsewhere to the KRG’s exercise of its right under the Iraqi constitution to market and sell oil around the world.”
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