SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Iraq and France discussed the possibility of supplying Iraqi crude oil to Europe, head of Iraq’s oil marketer SOMO said on Tuesday.
Alaa al-Yasiri, the head of SOMO, said French authorities had expressed readiness to provide Iraq with technical assistance to help it supply its crude oil to Europe, the Iraqi news agency reported.
He added that Iraq was committed to the decisions of the OPEC producers’ group, according to INA.
On Monday, EU leaders agreed in principle to cut 90% of oil imports from Russia by the end of this year. Two thirds of the EU’s Russian oil supply comes via tankers and one third via the Druzhba pipeline.
To replace Russia, the EU countries have begun efforts to import oil and gas from Middle Eastern countries, including Iraq and Qatar.
Earlier, Russia said it had fully cut off gas supplies to Dutch gas trader GasTerra and would halt flows to Denmark’s Orsted and to Shell Energy for its contract on gas supplies to Germany, after they failed to make payments in roubles, according to Reuters.
