HOUSTON, Aug 26 (Reuters) - A tanker loaded with $100 million of Iraqi Kurdish crude oil cannot be delivered in Texas anytime soon because of serious legal risks so a month-long standoff will likely drag on, a source close to the matter said on Tuesday.
A U.S. court on Monday threw out an order to seize the cargo, after acknowledging it lacked jurisdiction because the ship is beyond U.S. territorial waters, about 60 miles offshore.
The court did not settle the broader dispute over who owns the crude, but would-be buyers of the cargo would face lawsuits from Iraq, which says it has the sole right to export the oil, not the Kurdistan Regional Government. Buyers would also require the seller to provide costly indemnities against potential lawsuits, the source added.
Baghdad and the KRG have been locked in litigation, both in the United States and Iraq, over who can sell the crude. More legal action is likely after the U.S. judge on Monday said Iraq could amend its complaint, a move Iraq is mulling. (Reporting By Terry Wade; Editing by Anna Driver)
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