Iraq's SOMO Holds Second Tender This Week to Sell Basrah Crude Outside the Strait of Hormuz

Iraq's State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO) offered Basrah crude cargoes for September loading on Thursday, 5 Shahrivar 1405 (August 27, 2026), for sale via ship to ship transfers near the Omani coast, outside the Strait of Hormuz. According to Reuters, carried by Zawya, this is SOMO's second tender this week, and it closes Friday, 6 Shahrivar (August 28).

SOMO issued its first tender of the week on Monday, 2 Shahrivar (August 24), offering cargoes loading from the Basrah oil terminal that require buyers to send tankers through the Strait of Hormuz; that tender closed Wednesday, 4 Shahrivar (August 26). SOMO does not typically comment on its commercial dealings. Iran's state news agency IRNA had reported earlier, on Saturday, 31 Mordad (August 22), that Tehran granted permission for a number of Iraqi oil tankers to transit the Strait of Hormuz following repeated requests from Baghdad.