Iraq’s state-owned Oil Tanker Company transported 2 million barrels of Iraqi crude aboard a very large crude carrier (VLCC) through the Strait of Hormuz, in what its director general described on Saturday as the company’s first such operation in decades.
* The announcement means the company is transporting the crude through the strait rather than delivering it at the port of Basra, giving state oil marketer SOMO greater flexibility in how and where it sells the crude.
* The company’s director general, Ali Qais Abdul Jabbar, said in a statement that the move could allow SOMO to take advantage of better sales and pricing opportunities.
* Iraq’s Oil Tanker Company is also working to buy and own specialized crude oil tankers to expand its fleet and strengthen its ability to compete with regional shipping companies, he added.
* Iraq has previously secured Iranian permission for Iraqi oil tankers to transit the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has effectively closed during its conflict with the US.
(Reporting by Muayad Suadi, Writing by Ahmed Tolba, editing by Deepa Babington)