SINGAPORE: Iraq will supply crude to most Asian term buyers at full contracted volumes for August, compared with an average 10 to 15 percent cut for July, traders said on Wednesday.
"We’ve got full volumes this time, versus about 10 percent cut last month," said a source with a major term buyer.
"Ports conditions seem to be better now and loading is faster than before," the source said.
Exports from Basra, Iraq’s main oil-exporting hub, can fluctuate widely due to weather conditions or technical problems, while repeated bomb attacks hampered crude flow from Kirkuk fields in recent months.
Iraq had major cuts in crude supplies over the past two months. Traders said the cuts for July had been as deep as 50 percent, though some received full allocations.
Iraq’s crude exports in June averaged 1.9 million barrels per day (bpd), the same level as the previous month, the head of the State Oil Marketing Organization said earlier this month.
Average exports from the southern oil hub of Basra reached 1.45 million bpd while exports from oilfields in the north around Kirkuk averaged 450,000 bpd.
