Two month decline stopped with exports up to 2.14 million barrels a day
Iraq’s crude oil exports averaged 2.14 million barrels a day (b/d) in November ending a two-month decline and earning the country $6.83bn in revenues.
A total of 64.1 million barrels were exported in November, according to data released by the Oil Ministry.
Southern exports through the Basra oil terminal in the Gulf totalled 51.4 million barrels, or 1.71 million b/d, up 4.9 per cent on October exports of 1.63 million b/d.
The country’s exports were not affected by an explosion at an oil storage facility near the Zubair oil field in the south of the country on 13 December (MEED 14:12:11).
Exports through the northern pipeline to Turkey, however dropped by 7.6 per cent to only 12.7 million barrels from 14.2 million barrels in October.
Iraq has earned a total of $75.9bn in 2011, with oil prices averaging $104.9 a barrel over the year. Oil revenues in 2010 by comparison reached only $52.2bn.
Deputy prime minister for energy affairs, Hussain al-Shahristani says crude oil production now stands at more than 3 million b/d. The former oil minister says production should reach 3.4 million b/d by the end of 2012 along with exports of 2.6 million b/d.
In December, the Iraqi cabinet approved a draft 2012 budget of $100bn for 2012, leaving the country with a projected deficit of $14.5bn. Iraq relies on oil for more than 90 per cent of state revenues. The new budget is based on an average oil price of $85bn and exports of 2.625 million b/d and will include as much as 175,000 b/d from the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region of northern Iraq (MEED 6:12:11).
Iraq’s oil exports from the south of the country have been limited to just 1.8 million b/d from terminals at Basra and Khor Alamya in the Gulf. But Iraq plans to raise capacity to 4.5 million b/d. Australia’s Leighton Offshore is building three 900,0000 b/d single point moorings (SPMs), the first of which is due to ship its first crude oil in the new year and should ease the export bottleneck. The second SPM is expected to begin exports in June, and the third by the end of 2012.
You might also like...
Saudi Arabia and Turkiye sign railway agreements
10 June 2026
A MEED Subscription...
Subscribe or upgrade your current MEED.com package to support your strategic planning with the MENA region’s best source of business information. Proceed to our online shop below to find out more about the features in each package.
Take advantage of our introductory offers below for new subscribers and purchase your access today! If you are an existing client, please reach out to your account manager.
