Iraq may Change Oil Pricing Benchmark for Asia

Iraq is considering changing its price benchmark for Basra crude oil sales to Asia.

From January, the State Oil Marketing Organisation (SOMO) proposes to price relative to Dubai Mercantile Exchange (DME) Oman futures, rather than the average of Platts’ Oman-Dubai quotes.

According to a report from Reuters, this would mark a significant change away from fellow OPEC members Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iran, which have been using S&P Global Platts as their benchmark for decades.

SOMO has asked customers to submit their opinions on the plan by the end of August.