Saudi Arabia denies buying 25 oil tankers after Iraqi claims
Energy Ministry says the Kingdom did not purchase the 25 tankers cited in Iraq
Saudi Arabia has denied buying 25 oil tankers and rejected claims that the alleged purchases contributed to higher costs for transporting Iraqi crude.
The Saudi Ministry of Energy said on Tuesday that the Kingdom had not purchased the 25 tankers referred to during a session of Iraq’s parliament, describing the information as incorrect.
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The ministry was responding to remarks attributed to Iraqi Oil Minister Bassem Mohammed Khudair Al Abadi and Ali Nizar Al-Shatari, chairman and director general of Iraq’s State Organization for Marketing of Oil, or SOMO.
The remarks linked an alleged Saudi purchase of 25 tankers to the rise in the cost of transporting Iraqi oil.
The Saudi ministry said its clarification did not diminish the Kingdom’s right to take commercial and investment decisions that it considered appropriate to its needs and interests.
It added that the sharp increase in oil transportation costs stemmed instead from military escalation in the region, declared Iranian attacks on vessels and disruptions to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
Those conditions had sharply increased shipping risks and insurance costs while reducing the number of tankers willing to operate in the region, the ministry said.
The resulting pressure had pushed regional freight costs to what the ministry described as exceptional levels.
The ministry noted thati attributing the increase in Iraqi oil transportation costs to Saudi Arabia did not reflect the actual factors behind the rise.
