Iraq Starts Huge Oil Cuts as Hormuz Blockage Fills Storage
The Rumaila oil field near Basra in Iraq.
Photographer: Essam Al-Sudani/AFP/Getty ImagesIraq started shutting oil production at its biggest fields and is set to make even deeper reductions in the coming days, the clearest sign yet of stress on Middle East producer giants from the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
OPEC’s second-biggest producer has begun closing both the Rumaila field, the nation’s biggest, and the West Qurna 2 project, people familiar with the matter said, asking not to be identified because the information isn’t public. When complete, the halts will stop a majority of the country’s output.