By John Lee. Iraq plans to export about 3.4 million bpd of crude oil from its southern oil terminals in January, according to a report from Reuters. This represents an increase of 17.2 percent on December's estimate, and is driven by the Basra Light grade, which is planned to increase 23 percent to 2.61 million […]
By John Lee. According to a report from the Financial Times, Iraq’s introduction of the new Basra Heavy crude oil grade is causing problems for the international oil companies (IOCs). Since its launch in June, IOCs such as Shell, BP, Total, Lukoil, Petronas and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) have received their remuneration for development […]
June oil exports from Iraq hit a record average of 3.187 million bpd, up from 3.145 million bpd in May. An average of 3.02 million bpd was exported from the Southern terminals (up from 2.69 million bpd in May), with exports via Ceyhan averaging just 164,700 bpd (down from 451,000 bpd in May). Southern exports were helped by the splitting of output […]
By Simon Kent. Lukoil, the Russian energy giant with one of the biggest investments in southern Iraq at the vast West Qurna 2 oil field, have issued a statement in support of Iraq's move to split crude grades into Basra Heavy and Basra Light. Previously, different grades arrived at Basra for blending, which not only […]
By John Lee. Reuters reports that exports from Iraq's southern terminals have averaged 3.00 million barrels per day in the first 15 days of June, up from 2.69 million bpd in the month of May. The increase is due in part to the splitting of Basra crude into two grades, Basra Heavy and Basra Light. […]
By John Lee. Iraq has reportedly surprised traders in Asia with a sharp increase in the price of its new Basrah Heavy crude grade. Despite the grade selling at a sharp discount in the spot market last month, the State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO) raised the Official Selling Price (OSP) for Basrah Heavy by 85 […]
By John Lee. Reuters reports that oil production at the West Qurna II oilfield is currently running at around 402,000 barrels per day. The news agency quotes Lukoil Overseas senior vice president, Gati Al-Jebouri (pictured), as telling at a conference in London that output is expected to rise to 420,000 bpd by the end of […]
By John Lee. Oil Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi (pictured) has said that the new Basra Heavy crude oil grade will add an additional 100,000 bpd to oil exports this month. Reuters reports that the new grade has allowed Iraq to revive some fields that it had previously shut down to maintain the quality of its […]
By John Lee. According to a report from Reuters, the new Basra Heavy crude oil grade has been trading at a widening discount. Malaysia's Petronas reportedly sold 2 million barrels for June loading to Indian refiner Essar Oil at a discount of more than $1 a barrel to its official selling price. bigger than expected […]
By John Lee. Reuters reports that spot premiums for Basra Light crude hit a multi-year high on Thursday, after Iraq cut supply of the grade to export more of its new Basra Heavy oil in June. Traders told the news agency that the premium for June-loading Basra Light surged to more than $1 a barrel […]
By John Lee. A report from Argus claims that Iraq has scheduled greater-than-expected initial volumes of its new Basra Heavy crude oil grade. The State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO) plans to load more than 1.2 million bpd of Basra Heavy in June, boosting total Iraqi sales from its southern export terminals to a record high […]
By John Lee. Iraq plans to export a record volume of crude oil from its Gulf ports in June, reports Reuters. The State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO) has reportedly allocated over 3.1 million bpd of Basra crude to buyers in a preliminary June loading programme, up from the usual monthly total of between 2.6 million […]
