PM Al-Sudani orders investigation into oil smuggling

Shafaq News – Baghdad

On Saturday, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani ordered the creation of a high-level committee to investigate reports of oil and petroleum product smuggling through Iraqi ports and regional waters.

According to a statement by the PM’s media office, Al-Sudani directed the committee to submit its findings to the Cabinet upon completion of the investigation, affirming that the recommendations will be reviewed to determine appropriate legal measures.

The move comes amid mounting scrutiny of illicit oil flows in the region. On September 2, the US sanctioned Iraqi-Kittitian businessman Waleed al-Samarrai, accusing his network of disguising Iranian crude as Iraqi exports and generating hundreds of millions of dollars for Tehran and its affiliates. American officials and industry monitors such as Kpler and Vortexa have long pointed to techniques including blending, forged certificates of origin, and ship-to-ship transfers in Gulf waters, where Iraqi and Iranian maritime boundaries are close.

Economic Researcher Ahmed Eid told Shafaq News that Iraq “loses an estimated $2–4 billion annually” to such practices, warning that they distort export data and undermine confidence in the national economy.