Iraq’s semiautonomous Kurdish enclave has reportedly started pumping oil direct to neighboring Turkey via a new pipeline even though Baghdad has not approved the landmark deal between the Kurds and Ankara, raising concerns of a new clash with Baghdad. But the Financial Times said Baghdad is expected to endorse the pipeline deal in negotiations now under way with the Kurdistan Regional Government in Erbil and the Turkish government, a project that will have important geopolitical consequences for the region. The Iraq Oil Report, a website that monitors Iraq’s energy industry, reported the oil flow which began a week ago is primarily to test the pipeline. But it stressed this is “a significant step toward Kurdistan’s first independent pipeline exports.” The Financial Times said Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki ‘s government will likely secure 83 percent of revenues generated by KRG exports with the […]