Iraq's decision to stop oil supplies to the West has brought uncertainty to the markets. "The Iraqi leader's decision to throw his toys out of the pram may be seen as petulance [but] it will have little short-term effect on the tanker trades," one tanker operator commented to Fair-play last week. There is no particular shortage of crude at present and any shortfall can and will be made up unofficially by Saudi Arabia. And long term it is unlikely that Iraq will keep up its protest. "The world has Iraq over a barrel as it were, rather than the other way round," the tanker operator suggested.
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