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Source: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/150f00cc-472c-11e5-af2f-4d6e0e5eda22.html#axzz3jfGaJqyB
Iraqi Kurdistan Selling Oil to Israel, Italy, Turkey and Greece
(Financial Times-UK) David Sheppard, John Reed and Anjli Raval - Oil from Iraqi Kurdistan is reaching world markets, with Israel, Italy, Turkey and Greece emerging as big buyers. It is a trade conducted through secretive pre-pay deals brokered by some of the world's largest oil trading companies, including Vitol and Trafigura. Israeli refineries and oil companies imported more than 19m barrels of Kurdish oil between May 1 and Aug. 11, according to shipping data, trading sources and satellite tanker tracking. More than a third of all of the northern Iraqi exports, which are shipped from Turkey's Mediterranean port of Ceyhan, went to Israel over the period. Analysts have suggested that Israeli purchases of Kurdish oil may be a way for Israel to funnel financial support to the Kurds. A senior Kurdish government adviser in Erbil said, "Our priority is getting the cash to fund our Peshmerga forces against Daesh [ISIS]."