BAGHDAD, June 9 (UPI) -- Shipping data show tanker United Leadership, loaded with oil from the Kurdish north of Iraq, is still in the Atlantic Ocean because of Moroccan port issues.
Moroccan authorities last weekend ordered the vessel to leave its territorial waters. United Leadership is loaded with more than 1 million barrels of Kurdish oil taken May 22 from the Turkish sea port of Ceyhan.
It's still idled in the Atlantic Ocean because of Moroccan port delays. There was no indication Monday of a new destination.
The tanker's May departure frustrated a central Iraqi government in Baghdad that says Kurdish oil sales are a violation of the national constitution. The semiautonomous Kurdish government said it was operating according to the rule of law.
Last week, Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said he is opposed to Baghdad's objections because income from the oil sales would be distributed among the Iraqis themselves.
Turkey's main opposition party, the Republican People's Party, said the issue could strain ties between Ankara and Baghdad.
