Crude oil flows from Iraq's Kurdistan region to Turkey’s Ceyhan port are running at around 180,000 barrels per day, up from 150,000-160,000 bpd earlier in the week after they resumed on September 27 for the first time in two and a half years, two shipping sources told Reuters.
The first tanker loading of Iraqi Kurdistan crude from Ceyhan since the restart will take place on Thursday, the sources said.
They said the tanker, Vallesina, will load 700,000 barrels of crude. Flows resumed on Saturday, as eight oil companies operating in Iraqi Kurdistan reached agreements with Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government.
According to the agreement, the KRG will deliver the crude to SOMO, Iraq's national oil marketer, and an independent trader will handle sales from Ceyhan using SOMO's official prices.
Producers will get $16 per barrel. The deal came as OPEC+ oil-producing countries have been increasing output to gain market share.
(Reporting by Enes Tunagur and Alex Lawler, Editing by Louise Heavens and Tomasz Janowski)
