OPEC No. 2 Producer Takes Rare Lead to Send Less Oil to Asia
- Iraq reduced contractual crude volumes to at least 3 customers
- SOMO’s term allocations were announced ahead of Saudi Arabia
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Iraq is taking the lead in cutting oil supply to the prized Asian market as the global deal to curb output kicks in, an unusual move for OPEC’s second-biggest producer.
State-owned oil marketer SOMO told at least three Asian customers they won’t get the full contractual volumes they had asked for in June, with one of them getting a reduction of more than 30%, according to traders who were informed by the company. Two other buyers in the region said they were given the supplies they had requested. SOMO didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment outside of regular office hours.