Iraqi Oil Minister Bassem Mohammed Khudhair told the Iraqi News Agency in the early hours of Friday that Iraqi oil fields are ready to resume extraction operations, and that the return to normal production levels will take place incrementally until previous production rates are reached.
He added that the state-owned Oil Marketing Company (SOMO) had contacted all its clients to nominate chartered and owned tankers to load contracted quantities of Iraqi crude oil through the southern ports.
He noted that the return of exports would be gradual, depending on the flow of shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.