Iraq’s State Oil Marketing Organisation (SOMO) has signed a deal to buy nearly 1.5 million tonnes of gasoil and petrol for delivery over the first half of the year, according to Gulf News.

Gasoil

It is set to purchase two cargoes of 16,000 tonnes each of 0.1 per cent sulphur gasoil every month from Vitol at a premium of $9.67 a barrel to Middle East quotes, one of the sources said.

Overall volumes bought for gasoil are about half the usual volumes imported into Iraq every month, the source added.

“It’s still unclear how they are going to cover the rest of the supplies as they usually need about three to four cargoes a month,” he said.

Petrol

For petrol, Somo agreed to buy:

• 400,000 tonnes from Gunvor;
• 400,000 tonnes from Trafigura;
• 200,000 tonnes from Total; and,
• 300,000 tonnes from Vitol.

The prices for separate cargoes were not immediately available.

Kerosene

The company has not bought kerosene which it was seeking through the same tender and could likely be acquiring from Iran, according to one source.

Limited capacity

Somo had initially sought 1.365 million tonnes 92 RON petrol, 773,000 tonnes of 0.1 per cent gasoil and 292,000 tonnes of kerosene for delivery at the Khor Al Zubair terminal from January to June.

“The thing with Iraq is they never actually take as much as they contract for. Their terminal capacity is limited,” a Gulf-based middle distillates trader said

In November last year, Somo had clinched a deal to buy 600,000 tonnes of gasoil and petrol for delivery in the first half of 2012. Somo has a separate outstanding tender to buy 3,400 tonnes of gasoil a day for one year to use in power generation.

(Source: Gulf News)

Iraq’s oil exports rose by 10,000 barrels per day in December, from 2.135 million bpd to 2.145 million bpd, according to a report from Platts.

Citing data from the State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO), the agency also says that the country’s oil production fell by 13,000 bpd in December, to 2.652 million bpd from 2.665 million bpd in November.

Based on monthly data obtained exclusively by Platts, Iraq’s oil exports increased by 273,000 bpd or 14.4% in 2011 to average 2.165 million bpd, up from 1.892 million bpd in 2010.

The latest SOMO figures show oil exports from northern Iraq slipping by 11,000 bpd in December, to 412,000 bpd from 423,000 bpd the previous month.

The northern exports consisted of 408,000 bpd by pipeline to Turkey’s Ceyhan terminal (pictured) on the Mediterranean coast, and 4,000 bpd by truck to Jordan.

Iraqi oil exports from southern terminals on the Persian Gulf rose by 21,000 bpd in December, to 1.733 million bpd, up from 1.712 million bpd in November.

Sources said crude oil stocks in southern Iraq at the end of December stood at 3.7 million barrels, down from 4.3 million barrels a month earlier.

Iraq increased its oil exports 1.9 percent in December to an average of 2.175 million barrels a day, according to a report from Bloomberg.

The country may export at an average 2.6 million barrels a day next year, Falah Al-Amri, director of the State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO), said in an interview.

Iraq exported 2.135 million barrels a day in November, from a average production of 2.705 million bpd.

Output will rise to 3.4 million barrels of oil a day in 2012 and will exceed 4 million barrels a day in 2014, Al-Amri said at a conference in Baghdad yesterday.

(Source: Bloomberg)

Iraq’s State Oil Marketing Organisation (SOMO) has adjusted its official selling prices for its Basra Light and Kirkuk crude grades for January.

In common with some other countries, Iraq’s oil is priced relative to regional benchmark prices:

• For shipments to US, contracts are priced are relative to the Argus Sour Crude Index (ASCI);
• Shipments to Europe are priced relative the North Sea Spot BFOE; and
• Asian shipmentas are priced relative to the Dubai-Oman crude benchmark, published by Platts, the energy-information division of McGraw-Hill.

The new prices to Europe are as follows:

• Kirkuk crude to Europe will sell at a discount of $0.70 a barrel relative to the North Sea (Dated Brent) benchmark, up 65 cents from December;
• Basra Light to Europe will sell at a discount of $2.50 a barrel to Dated Brent, an increase of 65 cents.

And to the US:

• Basrah Light will sell at a $1.50 discount to the U.S. benchmark, up 10 cents from December
• Kirkuk will sell at a premium of 15 cents, up 5 cents.

To Asia:

• Basrah Light to Asia will sell at a premium of $2.90 above the benchmark, up from a premium of $1.80 in December.

(Sources: Reuters)

Iraq’s oil exports were 2.088 million barrels per day in October down from 2.101 million bpd in September, according to a report from Reuters.

Falah Alamri, the head of the State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO), said exports were 1.628 million bpd from the southern oil hub of Basra and 460,000 bpd from the northern fields around Kirkuk, which included 8,000 bpd exported to Jordan by truck.

“We were expecting a higher export level than the previous month but the bad weather around the Basra ports for the last six days lowered the exports,” Alamri said.

Exports from the Gulf terminals off Basra were 1.63 million bpd last Thursday but dropped sharply the next two days and were halted completely on Sunday before resuming on Monday at a rate of about 960,000 bpd.

The official selling price averaged around $104.

(Source: Reuters)

Bloomberg reports that Iraq will ask to rejoin OPEC’s quota system for crude output in 2014.

The holder of the world’s fifth-largest oil reserves plans to increased production from an average of 2.9 million barrels a day to 3.4 million barrels a day next year, and 4.5 million barrels a day in 2013, said Falah al- Amri, director of the State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO). The government ultimately intends to boost production to 12 million barrels a day by 2017.

“We will seek the biggest possible quota,” al-Amri said.

Iraq is exporting an average of 2.2 million barrels a day this month and earning an average price of $104 a barrel, he said in an interview in the southern city of Basra.

Iraq is the only member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries currently exempt from output quotas.

“Iraq will effectively be taking other countries’ market share” when it re-enters the OPEC system, Samuel Ciszuk, an energy analyst at IHS Global Insight, told Bloomberg. “It will become a source of tension for the group, especially given the very low level of trust that exists there now … Iraq will aim to have a quota slightly higher than what Iran will have, since Iraq says they have higher reserves.”

His stated target date of 2014 conforms with the group’s own forecasts. Secretary-General Abdalla El-Badri said in 2010 that OPEC would start discussing the matter in “four to five years.”

Iraq ships oil mostly to China, India and other Asian countries, said al-Amri.

(Source: Bloomberg)

The Gulf Today reports that Iraq’s State Oil Marketing Organisation (SOMO) has issued a tender to buy:

• 1.365 million tonnes of gasolinen (unleaded 92 RON);
• 773,000 tonnes of 0.1 percent gas oil; and,
• 292,000 tonnes of jet fuel.

The fuel is for delivery into Khor Al Zubair terminal between January and June 2012.

(Source: Reuters, The Gulf Today)

Higher oil prices and rising exports in the first eight months of the year have meant Iraq has already earned more from crude oil exports in the first eight months of 2011 than in all of 2010.

The country generated $55.733 billion between January and August, compared to a total of $52.202 billion in all of last year, according to the State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO).

Exports and prices have both been higher in 2011 than last year, resulting in the marked rise in revenues.

Crude exports in 2011 averaged 2.19 million barrels per day (bpd) until the end of August, compared to 2010 figures of 1.89 million bpd.

Average prices, meanwhile, have risen from around $90 per barrel in January to between $104 and $114 per barrel from March to August. By comparison, oil prices ranged from $71 per barrel to $86 per barrel in 2010.

The latest data show Iraq exported 67.9 million barrels of oil in August, earning revenues of $7.124 billion, at oil prices averaging $104.92. This figures differ slightly from those reported by AKnews earlier this month.

According to Middle East Online, that compares to overall exports of 55.4 million barrels during the same month a year ago, earning income of $3.957 billion.

(Sources: Middle East Online, SOMO)