The Iraqi Supreme Court yesterday ruled that the Iraqi Kurdistan Region's extraction, export and sale of oil and gas was illegal without the consent of the central government. This ruling provoked many reactions in Iraq and the Kurdistan region.

Patrick Osgood, a senior analyst at the Middle East Risk Control Institute, believes that unless the Iraqi central government acts against the Kurdistan Region through international foundations the court's ruling would remain useless and would not stop the region from drilling and selling its oil and gas.

He warned, however, that the region would face difficulties if Baghdad wanted to take large-scale international measures against independent oil exports from the Kurdistan Region, as it did in 2014.

The senior oil expert warned that there would be a significant challenge for Kurdistan if the next Iraqi government pursued the Supreme Court ruling.

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