Iraq's state marketer SOMO issued a second tender this week for
September-loading Basra crude to be delivered outside the Strait of Hormuz,
trade sources and a tender document show. The tender specifies ship-to-ship
loading near Oman's coast in the Arabian Sea and has an Aug. 28 deadline. In a
tender published on Monday SOMO offered cargoes loaded from its Basra oil
terminal, which requires buyers to charter tankers capable of transiting the
Strait; that first tender closed on Wednesday. Iran's IRNA reported on Saturday
that Tehran has approved some Iraqi tankers to transit the Strait of Hormuz
after repeated requests from the Iraqi government.
