IRAQ ROUTES OIL TANKER PAST HORMUZ CHOKEPOINT

Iraq's state-run Iraqi Oil Tankers Co. loaded a VLCC with 2 million barrels of crude, the kind tracked by $USO, and sent it past the Strait of Hormuz for the first time in decades, dodging a chokepoint that Iran's war has made increasingly dangerous for shipping. Baghdad relies on oil for roughly 90% of state revenue, and exports have averaged near 2.6 million barrels a day this year, well below the pre-war pace of 3.3 million. Iraq is betting the longer route brings safer buyers and better prices outside the Gulf.