Iraq is in the process of trying to hire multiple tankers to transit the Strait of Hormuz as Baghdad steps up efforts to get its crude to global markets. The government has already begun the process through state-run Iraqi Oil Tankers Co., a government spokesman said in a text message. The step was already approved by the country’s cabinet.

Iraq and other regional producers are increasingly selling their barrels for collection in the Gulf of Oman and that’s one possibility for how Baghdad might deploy the vessels. Iraq’s state oil marketing company this week slashed the discounts at which it sells the nations crude for collection from its export installations in the northern Persian Gulf. The tanker hiring process is still under negotiation.

A spokesman for Somo didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment, made outside Iraq’s normal working hours, about the price increases.