Iraq’s hitting a couple of speed bumps as it gears up for 2018 oil sales, after OPEC’s second-largest producer made unprecedented moves to sell one-off cargoes this year in addition to supplies under long-term contracts. The nation’s state-owned oil marketing company, known as SOMO, didn’t award two offers of spot shipments to Asian and European customers over the past month, with traders saying it was probably expecting more than what buyers were willing to pay. That’s a setback for the producer, which has sought to revamp the way it sells crude amid a global glut, weaker prices and increased competition from other Middle East producers as well as U.S. supplies . Iraq began auctioning off some cargoes on the Dubai Mercantile Exchange this year for the first time in a bid to get better value for its supply while also curbing output as part of a deal with other […]