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. Indian state refiners Indian Oil Corporation and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation are holding talks with Iraq’s State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO) to buy 4 million barrels of Basra light crude oil for India’s strategic petroleum reserves (SPRs). Bombay Stock Exchange had sought clarification from Hindustan Petroleum following press reports; Hindustan subsequently confirmed the […]
By John Lee. Iraq exported an estimated 97 million barrels of oil in May through the State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO), giving a daily rate of 3.13 million bpd. Early statistics indicate that this brought in revenues of $5 billion (6 trillion Iraqi dinars), equating to about $51.5 per barrel. (Sources: AIN)
According to the April 2015 report published by the Kurdistan Regional Government, KRG, Ministry of Natural Resources, KRG commitments under the 2015 Federal Budget Law have been met, and oil production has reached record levels. According to an agreement on oil export and budget, reached last December between the KRG and the Federal Government of […]
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's new Basra Heavy crude grade is now expected to be further delayed. Reuters quotes sources as saying that the State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO) has informed oil companies that it will start supplying Basra Heavy against entitlements from June instead of May. (Source: Reuters)
By John Lee. Reuters reports that Iraq's plan to split its Basra crude into 'heavy' and 'light' grades from May should reduce quality issues dogging its exports, but adds that there will be challenges getting the price it wants and setting up the required infrastructure. An official at the state-run South Oil Company (SOC), who […]
By John Lee. Reuters cites sources as saying that Basra Heavy crude, with an API gravity of 24 degrees, will be sold from May. It will be allocated to companies with technical service contracts, such as Lukoil , Petronas, CNPC, CNOOC, BP, ExxonMobil and Shell. The State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO) had previously abandoned plans […]
By John Lee. Iraq’s State Oil Marketing Organisation (SOMO) has narrowed the discount for April crude deliveries to Asian buyers by the most since November 2011, according to Bloomberg. Asian shipmentas are priced relative to the Dubai-Oman crude benchmark, published by Platts, the energy-information division of McGraw-Hill. Basrah Light to Asia will sell at a […]
By John Lee. Iraq produced a record of around 4 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil in December, Oil Minister Adel Abdel Mehdi (pictured) told a press conference on Sunday. This beat the previous record for Iraqi production of 3.56 million bpd in 1979, according to an official from the State Oil Marketing […]
By John Lee. Reuters reports that the State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO) is planning to export 3.3 million bpd of Basra crude from its southern ports in February. December's total figure hit 2.94 million bpd, the highest since 1980, of which a record 2.76 million bpd of oil was exported from the country's southern terminals. (Source: […]
By John Lee. Iraq’s State Oil Marketing Organisation (SOMO) has adjusted its official selling prices for its Basra Light and Kirkuk crude grades for February. 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 […]
