Iraq’s Basra Oil Company suspends all crude output at the Rumaila field due to tanker shortages and shipping disruptions from the Strait of Hormuz closure.

BAGHDAD: Iraq’s largest oil company has announced an immediate and total halt to crude production at the massive Rumaila field.

The Basra Oil Company stated the 100% reduction was due to “extremely serious international political events and the resulting closure of the Strait of Hormuz”.

This closure has disrupted international shipping and deterred oil tankers from entering the Gulf basin, according to the company’s official statement.

The resulting shortage of tankers at southern Iraqi ports has caused critically high stock levels and halted loading at some storage facilities.

All these factors necessitated “a 100 per cent reduction in production and pumping at the southern Rumaila field, effective immediately”.

Operated by British Petroleum, the Rumaila field in Basra Governorate is one of Iraq’s largest with a production capacity of up to 1.4 million barrels per day.

Iraq’s current total crude oil production stands at 4.273 million barrels per day nationwide.

The country’s total exports from all fields, including those in the Kurdistan region, are capped at 3.6 million barrels per day.

 The Sun Malaysia