Iraq Issues Spot Crude Tender as Persian Gulf Oil Loadings Recover but European Gas Prices Hit 3.5-Year High

Iraq's state oil marketer SOMO issued its second spot crude tender since the start of the US-Iran war, offering Basrah Medium and Basrah Heavy cargoes loading across all three decades of September from the Basrah Oil Terminal on an FOB basis, with the tender closing August 26. The move coincides with a broader, satellite-confirmed recovery in Persian Gulf oil loadings: Gulf flows have climbed back to roughly 7 million barrels per day on a 10-day moving average, up from around 5 million bpd in early August, though still well below the roughly 10 million bpd peak seen after the initial memorandum of understanding breakout. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq and the UAE are all routing barrels through the strait.

However, total Middle East loadings remain below half of pre-war levels because Red Sea flows have collapsed, with some Saudi volumes rerouted back to the Gulf instead. The partial recovery is broadly consistent with White House claims about Hormuz traffic. On the gas side, the prolonged closure of the strait to LNG tankers is pushing European benchmark prices to their highest level in three and a half years, with continent-wide storage already depleted before the Iran war disrupted shipments.

Analysts warn the window for meaningful late-summer storage injections has effectively closed, pointing to a tight gas supply outlook for Europe this winter even accounting for El Nino weather patterns.