OREANDA-NEWS. Oil trader Vitol made the lowest offer in a tender to sell more than 1.5 million tonnes of gasoil to Iraq next year, hoping to extend its contract from this year, trade sources said.

Vitol offered USD 7.11 a barrel over Middle East quotes, compared with Glencore's second-lowest offer of USD 7.27 a barrel, one of the sources said.

It was the lowest of nine offers for 1.53 million tonnes of gasoil to be delivered to Iraq's State Oil Marketing Organisation (SOMO) into the Khor Al-Zubair Terminal over January to December next year, the sources said.

Iraq lacks crude oil refining capacity and suffers from a chronic shortage of electricity. It uses gasoil to generate power.

Vitol and SOMO officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

The tender is expected to be awarded by mid-November, the sources said.

SOMO last finalised its 2013 term deal to buy up to 1.097 million tonnes of gasoil at a premium of USD 7.99 a barrel above Middle East quotes.

Years of war, militant attacks and underinvestment have forced Iraq to rely on imports for its fuel needs, making it one of the biggest buyers of gasoline and gasoil in the region.