Bahrain’s state oil company declared force majeure on March 9 for its shipments after an Iranian attack set its refinery ablaze.
The state-run Bahrain News Agency carried the announcement of the force majeure, a legal maneuver that releases a company of its contractual obligations because of extraordinary circumstances.
It said the company’s operations “have been affected by the ongoing regional conflict in the Middle East and the recent attack on its refinery complex.”
It insisted that local demand could still be met.
Meanwhile, Iraq’s oil production has dropped by nearly 60 percent as the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran entered its ninth day, according to an Iraqi official on March 8.
Production currently stands at about 1.3 million barrels per day, down from around 3.3 million barrels before the outbreak of the war, Kazem Abdul Hassan Karim, assistant director general at the Department of Fields and Licensing Affairs in the Iraqi Oil Ministry, said in a statement.
Iraq announced on March 3 that it had reduced crude oil output after cutting exports due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
