A source told "Reuters" , briefed by "Shafaq News", Iraq identified the official selling price for shipments of Basra Light crude of January to Asian buyers by premium of 80 cents a barrel above the average price of crude on the Sultanate of Oman and Dubai, less by ten cents from the previous month .

The unexpected reduction reduced the price difference of Basra Light crude with Saudi Arabian crude to average of 30 cents a barrel.

This may affect the immediate shipments price of Iraqi crude when trading begins in February later this month.

The price of Basra Light has been identified by a deduct of 40 cents to $ 1.10 a barrel for the Arab average in 2013 , compared with a premium in the previous year , which allowed Iraq to bypass Iran to become the fifth- largest supplier to China.

Iraq aims to increase production more than a million barrels per day to more than four million barrels per day in 2014, even after Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries , OPEC renewed last week its commitment to the production ceiling of 30 million barrels per day for the first half of 2014 .

The price of Basra Light crude in December for Asians buyers has been identified by a premium of $ 0.90 a barrel above the average crude of Oman and Dubai .