Dubai Mercantile Exchange hosted its latest auction on Tuesday, on behalf of Iraq’s National Oil Company, SOMO, taking the total number of barrels auctioned on their behalf to 20 million barrels.

The two-million barrel cargo of Basrah Heavy was awarded at a premium of US$0.13 per barrel over the December Basrah Heavy Official Selling Price, OSP. Over 50 companies are registered for SOMO auctions and around 30 logged in for Tuesday’s auction.

SOMO’s first DME auction was in April of this year and the 20 million barrels auctioned so far have attracted combined additional revenues $13,580,000 for the Iraqi government, versus prevailing OSPs.