Published on 6/30/2026
Reuters reported that the Iraqi Oil Marketing Company (SOMO) offered a significant discount on official selling prices to contract buyers to attract them to import Basra crude oil from its terminal in the Gulf in July.
The discount – according to commercial sources and a document reviewed by Reuters – on Basra Medium crude ranged between $14 and $16 per barrel, while the discount on Basra Heavy crude ranged between $16.80 and $18.80 per barrel, depending on the loading period.
The discount is greater for shipments loaded between the first and fifth of July, and decreases for shipments between the sixth and tenth of July and between the 11th and 31st of the same month.
SOMO asked buyers to place their orders for the required quantity within one day of receiving the letter.
Trade sources indicated that the huge discount may entice buyers, but the question remains about the possibility of crossing the Strait of Hormuz to bring oil.
The daily charter price for a giant oil tanker to ship two million barrels of crude oil from the Middle East to China rose to about $300,000 from about $220,000 on February 27, before the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran, but data from the London Stock Exchange Group indicates that it has fallen from its peak of nearly $600,000 in Last March.
Last week, SOMO issued a tender to sell crude oil scheduled to be loaded next July, but another source said that the company did not receive interest from buyers due to the difficulties faced by traders in booking oil tankers to enter the Gulf.
Other oil producers in the Middle East continue to load oil, but shipping traffic in the strait has slowed in the wake of new attacks on ships and renewed strikes between the United States and Iran in the past few days.
