Basra, Iraq. Iraq briefly suspended oil loadings on Thursday after a drone hit an oil tanker at the Basra terminal, before resuming operations, according to four Iraqi oil and security sources.
The drone caused no damage or fire, and its origin was not immediately known.
Terminal operations
Ali Nazar, head of Iraq’s state oil marketer Somo, said the incident was not a direct attack on the Basra Oil Terminal or vessels operating there.
“It is not targeting Basra Oil Terminal. Its target is another place. Loading is at normal rates depending on the vessels’ availability,” Nazar told Reuters.
An oil ministry spokesperson said loadings continued at Iraq’s southern ports and that the ministry was investigating the incident.
Tankers moved
The tanker struck by the drone was towed outside the port, along with another tanker that had been anchored, as a precaution, the four sources said.
On Wednesday, a drone came down at Iraq’s Faw port without causing damage, according to the state news agency. Port operations were not affected.
Export disruption
The Iran war has disrupted Iraqi oil exports from southern terminals because of the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
Iraq, OPEC’s second-largest producer, exported 10 million barrels of oil through the strait in April, compared with about 93 million barrels per month before the war, Oil Minister Basim Mohammed said.
Total Iraqi oil exports in June were about 24.5 million barrels, two oil officials told Reuters on July 5.