SOMO again denies allegations of oil mixing and smuggling.
SOMO again denies allegations of oil mixing and smuggling.
2025-08-09
The Director General of the State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO), Ali Nizar, denied on Friday (August 8, 2025) the existence of any oil mixing or smuggling operations in Iraqi ports or territorial waters.
Nizar said in a press statement that “there is no international or local evidence to confirm the existence of this type of smuggling or mixing,” stressing that “the concerns raised are baseless and have no scientific or realistic basis.”
He added, “The company has completed its preparations to resume exporting Kurdistan Region oil as soon as the producing companies begin delivering quantities.”
This is the second time the company has denied smuggling operations, after a leaked document issued by it to the security services appeared, showing the monitoring of tankers suspected of involvement in “oil smuggling or mixing” using GPS manipulation around the ports of Umm Qasr and Khor al-Zubair.
burathanews.com
