{"id":57740,"date":"2026-01-11T08:08:28","date_gmt":"2026-01-11T12:08:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/iraqs-february-crude-prices-set-amid-escalating-middle-east-tensions\/57740\/"},"modified":"2026-01-11T08:08:28","modified_gmt":"2026-01-11T12:08:28","slug":"iraqs-february-crude-prices-set-amid-escalating-middle-east-tensions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/iraqs-february-crude-prices-set-amid-escalating-middle-east-tensions\/57740\/","title":{"rendered":"Iraq&#8217;s February Crude Prices Set Amid Escalating Middle East Tensions"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Iraq&#39;s State Organization for Marketing of Oil (SOMO) has set its <strong>February Official Selling Prices (OSPs)<\/strong> for Basrah Medium crude with discounts across all major markets.<\/li>\n<li>The OSP for <strong>Basrah Medium crude to Europe<\/strong> was set at <strong>minus $3.55\/bbl<\/strong> against Dated Brent, representing the deepest discount.<\/li>\n<li>Iranian President Pezeshkian accused Iran&#39;s enemies of seeking to <strong>&quot;sow chaos and disorder&quot;<\/strong> following the &quot;12-Days-War.&quot;<\/li>\n<li><strong>Israel&#39;s Foreign Minister Sa&#39;ar<\/strong> has reportedly asked his German counterpart to classify the <strong>Iranian Revolutionary Guard (IRGC)<\/strong> as a terrorist organization.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Iraq&#39;s State Organization for Marketing of Oil (SOMO) has announced its official selling prices (OSPs) for February loadings of Basrah Medium crude, revealing significant discounts across key global markets. For buyers in <strong>North and South America<\/strong>, the OSP for Basrah Medium crude has been set at <strong>minus $1.10\/bbl<\/strong> versus the Argus Sour Crude Index (ASCI). This pricing strategy by SOMO reflects ongoing efforts to maintain market competitiveness.<\/p>\n<p>European customers will see the largest discount, with the February Basrah Medium crude OSP set at <strong>minus $3.55\/bbl<\/strong> against Dated Brent. Meanwhile, Basrah Medium crude destined for <strong>Asia<\/strong> has been priced at <strong>minus $1.30\/bbl<\/strong> to the Oman\/Dubai average. These adjustments come as global oil markets continue to navigate supply and demand dynamics.<\/p>\n<p>Adding to the complex regional landscape, geopolitical tensions in the Middle East remain elevated. Iran&#39;s President Pezeshkian stated that Iran&#39;s enemies are attempting to &quot;sow chaos and disorder&quot; in the country following what he referred to as the &quot;12-Days-War.&quot; This statement highlights deep-seated animosities and regional instability.<\/p>\n<p>In a related development, Israeli media reported that <strong>Foreign Minister Sa&#39;ar<\/strong> has formally requested his German counterpart to classify the <strong>Iranian Revolutionary Guard (IRGC)<\/strong> as a terrorist organization. This move underscores the persistent international pressure on Iran and the ongoing efforts by some nations to impose stricter measures against the IRGC. The call for such a classification could have significant diplomatic and economic implications.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Key Takeaways Iraq&#39;s State Organization for Marketing of Oil (SOMO) has set its February Official Selling Prices (OSPs) for Basrah [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50383,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"rank_math_schema_Article":[],"rank_math_focus_keyword":[],"rank_math_description":[],"financial_data_references":[],"stock_symbols_mentioned":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[5012],"tags":[12178,4461,16391,4664,4824,5030,5032,5036,5446,5831,8438],"class_list":["post-57740","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking-news","tag-osp","tag-crude-oil","tag-basrah-medium","tag-iran","tag-geopolitics","tag-energy","tag-middle-east","tag-irgc","tag-iraq","tag-somo","tag-asci"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57740","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57740"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57740\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57740"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57740"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57740"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}