Iraq starts huge oil cuts as Hormuz blockage fills storage

Iraq started shutting oil production at its biggest fields and is set to make even deeper reductions in the coming days, the clearest sign yet of stress on Middle East producer giants from the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

OPEC’s second-biggest producer has begun closing both the Rumaila field, the nation’s biggest, and the West Qurna 2 project, people familiar with the matter said, asking not to be identified because the information isn’t public. When complete, the halts will stop a majority of the country’s output.

The war has all-but halted ship traffic through Hormuz, leaving just a handful of empty tankers inside the Persian Gulf and still available to load. The result is that some of the world’s biggest producers are filling up their storage tanks — a situation that’s already become critical for Iraq and will eventually test others if the waterway isn’t unblocked. Saudi Arabia is