Iraq moves crude beyond the Strait of Hormuz and plans to buy its own tankers

Iraq has begun shipping crude oil beyond the Strait of Hormuz and will acquire tankers to expand exports and sales flexibility.

• Iraq's Oil Tanker Company announced it transported two million barrels of crude beyond the Strait of Hormuz in what it called its first such operation in decades.
• Oil Minister Bassim Khudhair al-Abbadi said Iraq plans to allocate budget funds to purchase tankers for the Iraqi Oil Tanker Company to raise export volumes.
• Al-Abbadi said exports reached more than three million barrels per day at the end of September, with August shipments totaling 70 million barrels.
• Tanker Company Director General Ali Qais Abduljabbar said the shipment gives the state marketer SOMO greater flexibility in sales and access to better pricing opportunities.