Helped Cap Oil Prices News

Asia to buy nearly 60 percent of Iraq's Basra Lt exports. Export facilities upgrade, new fields to boost volume in second half, but Buyers remain wary of quality issues, loading delays. Iraq's rush to pump more oil to Asia has coincided with complaints from some buyers about the quality of its crude, casting doubt on whether Baghdad can increase the volumes of its key Basra Light grade to the region by a third in 2014. The Gulf producer has managed to smooth out kinks in its supply chain that curbed Basra Light exports from southern oil terminals last year. The higher output has helped cap oil prices pushed up by recent geopolitical tensions and supply disruptions in Libya, Iraq's own north and elsewhere.