Iraq, the second-largest oil producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), appointed a new chief for national oil marketer SOMO, the company said on Thursday.

Ali al-Shatari will become the director general of the State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO), succeeding Khudhyer Abed, also taking over as Iraq's governor in OPEC.

SOMO, which markets all Iraqi oil, is expected to begin handling oil output from Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region after the end of an almost two-year dispute with the government in Baghdad.

(Reporting by Ahmed Rasheed Writing by Tala Ramadan and Nayera Abdallah Editing by Alexandra Hudson and David Goodman)