Iraqi oil exports from the Turkish port of Ceyhan were reportedly halted on January 29th, with no tankers waiting in the port.
Industry officials indicated that no new vessels had approached the port after the Amazon Falcon completed lifting 2 million barrels on January 27th.
Iraqi state oil marketer SOMO had told terminal operators and the U.N. that three ships – Crudesky, Orient Tiger and Front Champion – would arrive at the weekend.
None of the tankers had entered the port on January 29th, and industry sources said that no new estimated arrival dates had been received.
Oil sales had resumed from Ceyhan on January 21st, with the SuperLady taking the first crude from the port this year.
Only one other ship had loaded Iraqi crude from Ceyhan since Baghdad halted exports in late November due to pricing disputes with its customers and the U.N.
Loadings from Iraq’s other approved export route, the Gulf port of Mina al-Bakr, have been running fairly smoothly over the past two weeks, but export volumes are still drastically lower than in November.
Indian Oil Minister Ram Naik said on January 29th that India has asked the U.N. for permission to increase exports of Iraqi crude under the oil-for-food program.
He said that: “We have asked for an extra 1.5 million tonnes [of oil], which is being considered.”
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
