By Ulf Laessing BASRA, Iraq, May 22 (Reuters) - The king size bed in Saddam Hussein's superyacht is made, the silk curtains around it have been drawn back and, in the gold-rimmed bathroom next door, a barber's chair awaits its occupant. But the Iraqi dictator never boarded the 82-meter (270-foot) "Basrah Breeze" built for him in 1981 - and its amenities will now be enjoyed … [Read more...]
Iraq Boosts Oil Export Capacity
by Ahmed Rasheed (Reuters) Iraq has increased oil export capacity from its southern ports by 900,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 4.6 million bpd after adding a new floating terminal in the Gulf, Oil Minister Jabar al-Luaibi said in a ministry statement. “Oil export capacity have reached unprecedented levels after adding a new single point mooring with an additional export … [Read more...]
Iraq Sets Up Oil Shipping, Trading Joint Venture
By Rania El Gamal DUBAI, Aug 16 (Reuters) - OPEC member Iraq has formed a joint venture with a shipping company owned by Arab states to transfer, store and trade crude and oil products, according to official documents and industry sources. Middle East oil producers are venturing into buying and selling oil to boost their incomes as a sharp drop in crude prices since … [Read more...]
Iraq Blacklists Tankers Transporting Kurdish Crude Oil
By Dmitry Zhdannikov (Reuters) Iraqi state oil firm SOMO has blacklisted three tankers involved in shipping crude from Kurdistan, stepping up pressure on the semi-autonomous region amid tense talks on sharing oil revenue. Kurdistan has been exporting crude independently via Turkey since mid-2015 after saying Baghdad had failed to respect an oil revenue-sharing deal and … [Read more...]
Huge Oil Tanker Traffic Jam Builds at Iraq’s Basra Port
By Keith Wallis SINGAPORE, April 6 (Reuters) - A traffic jam of nearly 30 large oil tankers has built up outside the Iraqi port of Basra due to loading delays, with some waiting up to three weeks and costing ship operators around $75,000 a day per vessel. Shippers and port sources said more delays are expected throughout April as the city's facilities struggle to cope … [Read more...]