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Iraq boosted its oil exports in August, with September shipments also set to climb, as wide profits and Iranian approval for its tankers to pass through the Strait of Hormuz have encouraged buyers, according to industry sources and shipping data. The recovery in exports for Opec's second-largest producer, which had been severely curtailed by the near-closure of the Strait of Hormuz since the start of the Iran war on February 28, improves the supply of heavy high-sulphur crude to major importers China and India. Iraq's oil exports rose to around 2.34mn barrels per day in August from about 1.35mn bpd in July, two Iraqi energy officials said on Wednesday. Provisional data from shiptracking firms Vortexa and Kpler pegged Iraqi crude exports in August at 2.3mn and 2.17mn bpd, respectively, up from July's level but below February's pre-war level of 3.7mn and 3.362mn bpd. "Iraq has been giving heavy discounts... which has incentivised buyers to find shipping options to get the cargoes out," Sparta Commodities' senior analyst June Goh said. Also, Tehran granted permission for a number of Iraqi oil tankers to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, Iran's state news agency IRNA reported last week.While it is unclear whether the permission applies to all Iraqi cargoes, Iraq is the only Gulf producer that has explicitly received a permit, Sparta's Goh said.Iraqi state oil marketer SOMO offered August-loading cargoes from the Basrah terminal at discounts of $25 to $30 a barrel on a free-on-board basis, Reuters reported.That drew buyers including Chinese state majors PetroChina and Zhenhua Oil, TotalEnergies, Vitol, Trafigura, Mercuria and Cathay Petroleum, multiple trade sources said.Traders could reap profits of about $10 a barrel after shipping and insurance costs estimated at around $17 a barrel if they resold the oil at premiums, one of those sources said.PetroChina loaded 6mn barrels in July and August from the terminal, said another one of the sources, a state oil trading executive with direct knowledge of the matter.PetroChina also chartered the very large crude carrier Yuan Gui Yang to load about 2mn barrels of Basrah crude from the VLCC Jamaica Prosperity off Malaysia's Linggi port on August 22, Kpler data showed.The Jamaica Prosperity, also chartered by PetroChina, loaded at the Basrah terminal on August 6, Kpler said.The Yuan Gui Yang will discharge in Myanmar this week for PetroChina's refinery in Yunnan province, LSEG data showed.PetroChina, Zhenhua Oil, Vitol, Mercuria and Cathay Petroleum did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Trafigura declined to comment.Several tankers owned or managed by Sinokor, ADNOC Logistics & Services, Bahri and Kylades Maritime loaded at Basrah in August, according to Kpler and trade sources. The shipping firms did not respond to requests for comment.India's Reliance Industries received 4mn barrels of Basrah crude in August, Kpler data showed.Last week, an official at Bharat Petroleum Corp said the company expects to receive its first Iraqi oil cargo of this fiscal year soon.Reliance has also chartered a very large crude carrier at a record freight rate to lift Iraqi crude.Chinese refiners have bought at least 16mn barrels of Basrah crude for September arrival, according to estimates from several trade sources who participate in the market.Half of these were purchased by China's biggest independent refiner Rongsheng Petrochemical from Vitol and Total at close to $10 a barrel above Dubai quotes for delivery to China, two of the sources said.Another independent refiner, Shenghong Petrochemical, secured 2mn barrels of Iraqi oil for September delivery at around $8 a barrel over ICE Brent for delivery to China, another one of the sources said.Rongsheng and Shenghong did not respond to requests for comment. 

Saudi Aramco has chosen Citigroup Inc to help arrange a potential multibillion-dollar stake sale in its oil export and storage terminals business, according to people familiar with the matter.The US investment bank was selected in recent days after a pitching process that drew proposals from several other Wall Street lenders, the people said, asking not to be identified as the matter is private.The mandate is a win for Citigroup, whose Chief Executive Officer Jane Fraser has made a renewed effort to win business from large corporates and sovereign wealth funds in the Middle East. Aramco had tapped JPMorgan Chase & Co as a sell-side adviser when it previously sold stakes in its oil and gas pipeline infrastructure in separate transactions.The Saudi oil giant is expected to kick-off a formal sale process as early as next year and is likely to see interest from large infrastructure funds, the people said. Discussions are at an early stage and no final decisions have been made on the timing or structure of the transaction, they said.Representatives for Citigroup and Aramco declined to comment.Aramco is considering options including selling an equity stake in the business, Bloomberg News reported this week. It aims to raise billions of dollars from such a sale, people familiar with the matter said at the time.The plans are part of a broader attempt by the firm to sell a range of assets, including potentially part of its real estate portfolio.Oil prices have dropped about 16% this year and while the impact of that drop on Aramco’s earnings has been tempered by higher output, the firm has delayed some projects and looked to sell assets to free up cash for investments.The deals now being considered would mark a step up from previous transactions that were focused on stakes in pipeline infrastructure.Aramco’s main oil storage and export infrastructure is located at Ras Tanura on the Arabian Gulf and the company has similar terminals on the Red Sea. Internationally, the firm owns stakes in product terminals in the Netherlands and leases crude as well as product storage at main trade hubs in Egypt and at Okinawa in Japan.Earlier this year, a BlackRock Inc-led group signed an $11bn lease deal for facilities that serve Aramco’s Jafurah gas project in the kingdom. 

Ukrainian drone strikes on Russia’s oil export pipelines and a doubling of US tariffs on goods imported from India appear to be hitting Moscow’s crude flows.Weekly crude shipments from Russian ports fell by 320,000 barrels a day in the week to August 24, tanker-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg show.Flows dropped to a four-week low of 2.72mn barrels a day, pushed down by reduced loadings at the Baltic port of Ust-Luga. The drop left four-week average crude shipments little changed, with seaborne cargoes averaging 3.06mn barrels a day.Ukraine has intensified attacks targeting Russia’s oil infrastructure, hitting a major pumping station on the nation’s export pipeline network and several refineries.The Unecha pump station, on the Druzhba pipeline system close to Russia’s border with Belarus, was targeted by Ukrainian drones twice in the past two weeks.The attacks have halted piped crude deliveries to Hungary and Slovakia and appear to have hampered shipments from the port of Ust-Luga on Russia’s Baltic coast. The Baltic Pipeline System 2, which carries Russian and Kazakh crude to the port, begins at Unecha.Storage tanks at the port mean that any halt in deliveries may not result in an immediate drop in shipments, but only two tankers loaded Russian crude at Ust-Luga last week, down from four during the previous seven days and six in the week to August 10, the tracking data and shipping reports show.Recent strikes on the Volgograd and Novoshakhtinsk refineries helped to push Russia’s crude processing down by about 700,000 barrels a day in the third week of August from the average during the last week of July. That ought to free up more crude for export, if processing is halted for long periods.Separately, President Donald Trump’s doubling of US import tariffs on goods from India to 50%, imposed because of New Delhi’s purchases of Russian oil, appears to hitting the flow of Moscow’s crude to the south Asian nation, though it’s unclear how long the trend will persist.Shipments heading to India have fallen by more than 500,000 barrels a day over the past two months and even if all the tankers with no confirmed destination end up discharging at Indian ports, flows would still be down by 300,000 barrels a day, or 17%, since late June.The tariff increase could yet be reversed or paused, but refiners are planning to trim purchases of Russian crude in the coming weeks, a modest concession to Washington’s pressure, but also a signal that New Delhi doesn’t plan to cut ties with Moscow. Nevertheless, Russia sees the discounts it offers Indian refiners as big enough to keep them buying its oil.The US president has repeatedly said he would increase sanctions against Moscow if it failed to agree a ceasefire in Ukraine, most recently on Friday, but the threats have so far come to nothing.Trump’s recent meeting with President Vladimir Putin in Alaska saw the Russian leader conceding little, but getting another stay of execution on threatened US secondary tariffs on China. Chinese refiners have stepped up purchases of discounted cargoes relinquished by India.A total of 25 tankers loaded 19.07mn barrels of Russian crude in the week to August 24, vessel-tracking data and port-agent reports show. The volume was down from 21.3mn barrels on 28 ships the previous week.Crude flows in the period to August 24 stood at about 3.06mn barrels a day on a four-week average basis, up by 20,000 barrels a day from the period to August 17.The four-week average smooths out big swings in weekly numbers, giving a clearer picture of underlying trends in crude flows. Using more volatile weekly figures, shipments fell by about 320,000 barrels to a four-week low of 2.72mn barrels a day. The drop in weekly flows was driven by fewer cargoes being loaded at Ust-Luga.The gross value of Moscow’s exports fell by about $110mn, or 9%, to $1.11bn in the week to August 24 from $1.22bn the previous week. The drop in flows was compounded by slightly lower average prices for Russia’s crudes.