Afghanistan, Oct. 4 -- Iraq's state-owned Oil Tankers Company has transported 2 million barrels of crude oil through the Strait of Hormuz aboard a very large crude carrier (VLCC), in what the company described as its first operation of this kind in decades.
The shipment marks a shift in how Iraq handles some of its crude exports. Instead of delivering the oil at the port of Basra, the company transported the cargo through the strategic waterway, giving Iraq's state oil marketer, SOMO, greater flexibility over where and how the crude is sold.
Ali Qais Abdul Jabbar, director general of the Oil Tankers Company, said the arrangement could allow SOMO to take advantage of better sales and pricing opportunities. He also said the company is worki...