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State Oil Marketing News

06 Jan 2021

Indian Oil Corp Buys its First Cargo of Iraqi Basra Medium Oil

Indian Oil Corp (IOC) , the country's top refiner, has loaded its first cargo of Iraq's newly introduced Basra Medium crude grade, according to ship-tracking data from Refinitiv Eikon and a source with knowledge of the matter.IOC loaded the cargo onto Minerva Kalypso, a Suezmax-sized vessel, which left Iraq's southern port of Basra on Jan. 4, the data showed.The ship is expected to arrive at Chennai port in southeastern India for IOC's subsidiary Chennai Petroleum Corp (CPCL) around Jan. 14.Iraq's state oil marketing company (SOMO) launched the new sour crude grade in January by splitting existing Basra Light production into two grades to provide better quality stability."From this year IOC will get all three grades - Basra Light…

04 Jan 2021

Iraq Defuses Mine Attached to Oil Tanker

The ship with the mine on the hull has been identified as the Liberia-flagged Pola, and is owned by Dynacom Tankers. Image Credit: Max Wei

A mine that was attached to the hull of an Iraqi oil tanker was defused two days after it was discovered, Iraq's military said in a statement on Saturday.The tanker was in international waters about 28 nautical miles (52 km) off Iraq's coast in the Gulf and supplying another ship with fuel when the device was discovered on Thursday afternoon.An investigation has been opened to find out the circumstances of the incident.The military said on Friday that it was not immediately clear how the mine was attached to the tanker…

01 Mar 2016

Iraq's Southern Oil Exports Slip in February

Iraq's southern oil exports dropped slightly in February to an average of 3.225 million barrels per day (bpd), the oil ministry said on Tuesday. Shipments from the southern terminals in the Gulf fell from 3.285 million bpd in January as several days of bad weather delayed loading operations. All of the exports were from Iraq's southern ports, ministry spokesman Asim Jihad said. For a fifth consecutive month, Baghdad exported no oil via its northern pipeline to the Turkish port of Ceyhan. Iraq depends almost entirely on its southern exports after the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region in the north ramped up its own independent oil sales via Ceyhan in June 2015 while cutting allocations to Iraq's State Oil Marketing Organisation (SOMO).

15 Dec 2015

Heavy Iraq Crude Has Limited Appeal for US Gulf Coast Buyers

Sellers of a new grade of Iraqi oil are competing fiercely to win market share on the U.S. Gulf Coast, though high sulfur content has limited appeal for refiners of the crude, known as Basra Heavy. Iraq's State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO) began selling the crude with an API gravity of about 23 degrees in May after separating it from the Basra Light stream to resolve quality and consistency issues and reach new customers. The first shipments of Basra Heavy to the U.S. Gulf Coast were modest. They peaked in October at nearly 2.5 million barrels, then plunged 80 percent in November. December arrivals have also been low, according to Reuters vessel tracking data.

22 May 2014

Kurdistan defies Baghdad in Crude Oil Sale

Move likely to infuriate Iraqi government in Baghdad; first 1 million barrel cargo being loaded at Ceyhan, Turkey. Tanker scheduled to sail later on Thursday, buyer not identified. Iraqi Kurdistan started loading oil from its new pipeline for shipment from a Turkish port on Thursday, defying the Baghdad government, which claims sole authority over Iraqi crude and declares any independently sold oil as 'smuggled'. The cargo of 1 million barrels of crude oil was being loaded on a tanker in the Mediterranean port of Ceyhan, Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz told Reuters on Thursday. "Loading will be completed today," Yildiz said, declining to name the buyer.

09 Apr 2014

Baltic Med Crude-Urals Weakens, Opens Arb Options

Russian Urals crude weakened in the Baltic on Wednesday due to a number of unsold cargoes while Kazakh CPC continued to strengthen due to a lack of sweet barrels. In the Platts window, Trafigura bought a cargo of Urals from Eni at dated Brent minus $1.30 a barrel, some 35 cents weaker than previous price estimates, traders said. Total bid for a cargo of CPC at dated Brent minus 40 cents, some 10 cents stronger than previous price estimates. The price of Urals in southern Europe moved closer to parity with dated Brent due to an absence of Iraq's Kirkuk crude, strong demand and attractive refining margins, traders said. Urals differentials in the Mediterranean were between minus 20 cents per barrel and parity with the North Sea benchmark, traders said Tuesday.

08 Apr 2014

As Iraq sells more oil to Asia, quality issues emerge

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.

06 Jun 2011

Qatar to Hit Full LNG Export Capacity

According to a report from Reuters, LNG exporter Qatar will reach full export capacity of 77 million tons per year by the end of 2011, the head of the state oil marketing company said. Qatar already has the world’s largest capacity to ship super-chilled gas, and exported its first cargo from the latest plant to come into operation in February.   Source: Reuters

14 Aug 2003

Detention of Ships Smuggling Oil from Iraq

The U.S. Maritime Liaison Office (MARLO) in Bahrain issued an Advisory stating that the coalition leadership in Iraq is in the process of establishing procedures for detention and possible confiscation of ships, and for legal action against the participants, involved in smuggling oil from Iraq. Only oil legally purchased from the State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO) is authorized for export. Any ship transporting illegal Iraqi oil is subject to seizure and detention by coalition naval forces. The vessel may be subject to forfeiture in accordance with Iraqi law. Legal action may also be taken against ship owners, operators, and others involved in the smuggling. MARLO Advisory Bulletin 24-03 Source: HK Law

25 Jan 2001

Crude Flows Again At Ceyhan

Iraqi crude oil exports were flowing again at the Turkish port of Ceyhan, where the second vessel this year was finishing lifting and three new cargoes were expected to turn up soon, industry sources said. The sources said the Marina M, which recently replaced the earlier chartered Seadancer, has just about finished lifting one million barrels of Kirkuk crude and the two million barrel Amazon Falcon is already berthed and waiting. Three new vessels are also expected before month's end, with the one-million-barrel Crudesky due to arrive on January 27, and two very large crude carriers (VLCCs) -- the Orient Tiger and the Front Champion -- seen on the 28th and 29th, the sources said.

30 Jan 2001

No Tankers At Ceyhan

Iraqi oil exports from the Mediterranean port of Ceyhan, Turkey, remained off line on Tuesday as three vessels slated to arrive at the weekend were still unseen, industry sources said. Three tankers had been nominated by Iraq's State Oil Marketing Organisation (SOMO) for arrival Saturday, Sunday and Monday, but the port has been idle since the two-million-barrel Amazon Falcon sailed on Saturday, the sources said. Some sources said the Orient Tiger and Front Champion -- both very large crude carriers (VLCCs) -- could potentially arrive the next day or two, but others noted that no formal estimated time of arrival (ETA) had been supplied. The Crudesky, a SuezMax, was expected later as it sailed from Novorossiisk only on January 22.