ADNOC Adds 40 Million Barrels of Iraqi Crude Procurement in September

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On September 15, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) expanded its Iraqi crude procurement through its trading arm. Trading sources disclosed that ADNOC has agreed to purchase approximately 32 million barrels of Iraqi crude in August and an additional approximately 40 million barrels in September, bringing the total contracted volume for the two months to approximately 72 million barrels. The August procurement was at a discount of approximately $24.90–27 per barrel; in the September procurement, approximately 10 million barrels were at a discount of $18 per barrel, while the other 30 million barrels were at a discount of approximately $25 per barrel. The above crude is supplied by Iraq's State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO).

In August, SOMO allocated approximately 32 million barrels of crude to ADNOC, but due to export capacity constraints and limited available resources from Basra Oil Company, ADNOC actually lifted approximately 20 million barrels. As of September 15, ADNOC had lifted approximately 14 million barrels for the month. According to another trading account, ADNOC also procured approximately 20 million barrels of crude through a SOMO tender, scheduled for loading from September to October, at a discount of approximately $25–27 per barrel.

This procurement corresponds to physical crude trading and subsequent refining arrangements. ADNOC plans to send most of the crude purchased from other Gulf oil-producing countries to its Ruwais refinery in Abu Dhabi for processing, while directing more of its own produced crude to international markets. ADNOC's global trading company itself handles the procurement of third-party crude and other refinery feedstocks, optimizing the feedstock mix for ADNOC Refining.

The Ruwais refinery has a crude processing capacity of more than 922,000 barrels per day and is the core processing base of ADNOC's refining and petrochemical system, capable of producing liquefied petroleum gas, gasoline, diesel, naphtha, aviation fuel, Group III base oils, propylene, and other products. According to ADNOC's official information, the refinery is implementing a long-term upgrade project to expand the range of processable crude types and processing volumes.

Iraqi crude exports rebounded significantly from July to August. According to shipping data, Iraq's crude exports were approximately 1.374 million barrels per day in July, rising to approximately 2.354 million barrels per day in August, and approximately 2 million barrels per day in September to date. SOMO had previously sold August-loading crude at relatively large discounts, with multiple international trading houses and Asian refineries participating in the purchases alongside ADNOC.

SOMO currently primarily sells crude grades including Basra Medium, Basra Heavy, and Kirkuk. Its official export records for 2026 show that in January alone, Basra Heavy crude exports reached 37.63 million barrels, averaging approximately 1.214 million barrels per day. In March, the SOMO board also reviewed the monthly pricing arrangements for Basra Medium, Basra Heavy, and Kirkuk crude. The ADNOC procurement disclosure did not specify the crude grades corresponding to each cargo.

During the same period, the UAE's own crude exports also increased. According to shipping data, the UAE's crude exports in September to date are approximately 3.236 million barrels per day, higher than 2.886 million barrels per day in August and 2.871 million barrels per day in July. ADNOC's third-party crude procurement is being advanced in parallel with the Ruwais refinery processing arrangement, forming a physical trading chain of "purchased crude—Ruwais processing—own-produced crude for export."