Iraq will ship 17 cargoes of Basrah Light (ZOSPBLAS) crude oil for loading in the first half of February from the Persian Gulf, two more than in the second half of January, according to a loading program obtained by Bloomberg News.

A total of 28.06 million barrels, or 1.87 million barrels a day, will be loaded from Basrah Oil Terminal, the plan showed. The program comprises 12 cargoes of 2 million barrels each, two shipments of 1 million barrels, two 715,000-barrel lots and one 630,000-barrel consignment.

Basrah Light has a density of 30.2 degrees on the American Petroleum Institute scale and a sulfur content of 2.92 percent, according to BP Plc. That makes it a so-called medium sour crude, which yields less higher-value refined products than benchmark grades such as Brent.

Loading programs are schedules of crude shipments compiled by field operators to allow buyers and sellers to plan their supply and trading activities.






Source: Bloomberg