SEOUL: Iraq’s oil exports rose in April to 2.6 million barrels per day (b/d), the country’s oil minister said yesterday, helping to keep global markets well supplied as shipments from regional rival Iran are crimped by tightening Western sanctions.
Rising exports may help Iraq cement its position as Opec’s second-largest producer, even though creaking infrastructure and civil unrest hampering work at some of its top fields have kept the country short of a 2013 target of 2.9m b/d.
Kirkuk is the key field holding back Iraq from boosting exports. Part of the so-called disputed territories claimed by both the Arab-led central government and the autonomous Kurdistan region in the north, it sits on 8.5 billion barrels of crude reserves.
“It is a pity as 250,000 b/d of supply from Kurdish fields has been suspended,” Oil Minister Abdul Kareem Luaibi told reporters in the South Korean capital.
“If the supply from the northern region is resumed, on which we continue to have discussions, we think our export target of 2.9m b/d will be reached.”
Iraq’s total oil production was 3.1m b/d in April, Luaibi said, adding that the country was sticking with its 2013 export target, and targets 3.4 million bpd next year. Iraq’s oil exports were 2.417m b/d in the previous month.
Rising exports have also kept a lid on oil prices, despite the fall in Iran’s sales. Tough Western sanctions on Tehran over its controversial nuclear programme have increased the difficulty of paying for and shipping the oil, cutting exports by more than half last year.
After stagnating for decades due to wars and sanctions, Iraq’s oil output and exports have began to rise in earnest since 2010, after Baghdad secured service pacts with firms such as BP, Royal Dutch Shell, Eni and ExxonMobil.
Reuters
