Every new crisis is a formidable opportunity to try new things, oftentimes merely to have another go with methods that have failed in the past but should work better now. Cognizant of the pricing developments in the Asian market, the Iraqi state oil marketing company SOMO has announced that from 2021 onwards it would introduce a new medium sour grade to its set of available grades – Basrah Medium. The concept of Basrah Medium is by no means a complete novelty, it has been mooted for more than 2 years already as a necessary step to mitigate the quality deterioration of Iraq’s flagship export blend, Basrah Light. Next year, however, might be the long-awaited year of breakthrough for Basrah Medium. Taking a helicopter view of the Iraqi oil export, SOMO’s current grade allocation is quite new when compared to other Middle Eastern NOCs. In the beginning was the word, […]