。。In late July， Sinochem and Iraq‘ s State Oil Marketing Corporation （ known as SOMO) signed an August-December Basrah Light Crude Oil Contract. Sinochem is the only Chinese company signing contract with SOMO after the Iraqi War， which marks its successful reentry into the Iraqi oil market.

。。As the first Chinese company purchasing crude oil from SOMO under the UN Food for Oil Program since 1997， Sinochem has been maintaining long-term cooperative relations with SOMO.

。。In addition to Sinochem， other transnational oil companies like BP， Shell， ChevronTexaco， ConocPhillips and Totalfinaelf also signed contract with SOMO. Since currently SOMO gives preference to transnational oil companies when selling crude oil， the signing of the contract with Sinochem indicates the enhancing position of Sinochem in the international oil industry following the implementation of its upstream and downstream expansion strategy and lays down a solid foundation for Sinochem’s use of Iraqi crude oil in developing long-term cooperative ties with end users.