Iraq plans to launch a new Basrah Medium crude export grade in a bid to help stabilize the quality of its existing Basrah Heavy and Light export grades as more production is sourced from lower quality oil deposits. The new Basrah Medium grade will have an API gravity of 29-30 degrees and 2% sulfur, SOMO Deputy Director General Ali Nazar al-Shatari told S&P Global Platts. There will also be slight changes to the existing grades. Basrah Heavy will remain largely the same at 23 degrees API and 4% sulfur. However, Basrah Light will be become even lighter, rising to 34 API degrees, up from an average of 29-31 degrees currently. Shatari did not give any further details on when the new grade will be launched, saying it would be launched “whenever logistics allow.” The OPEC producer shipped some 3.246 million b/d in February, from its Persian Gulf terminals, according […]