Iraq was in contact with Iran to try to arrange passage for some of its oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, the country’s oil minister told local media.

A founding member of the OPEC cartel, crude oil sales make up 90 per cent of Iraq’s budget revenues. Before the outbreak of war on February 28, Iraq mainly shipped its oil — roughly 3.5 million barrels per day — from the southern Basra fields via the Strait of Hormuz.

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Iran has closed the strait, through which as much as a fifth of the world’s oil is shipped in normal times, to vessels from most countries.

“Communications are underway with the relevant authorities to authorise the passage of certain oil tankers to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, in order that we can resume our exports,” oil minister Hayan Abdel Ghani told local TV station al-Sharqiya, referring to the Iranians.

“We need to provide them with the identity of these ships, their name, their affiliation, who owns them,” he added.

AFP