Iraq’s monthly oil export revenues dropped by more than 10 per cent to $7.8bn during May, as lower global oil prices cut into gains made by increased export volumes.

Revenues totalled $7.831bn, down from nearly $8.8bn in April, according to the latest figures released by the Oil Ministry.

Exports from the southern port of Basra into the Gulf reached 64.7 million barrels, or 2.09 million barrels a day (b/d), just 1.4 per cent lower than the record post-war levels in April. However, crude oil prices have started to slide over the past two months. Iraq’s average oil price in May was $103.039 a barrel, compared with $116.799 a barrel in April.

Exports from the north through the Iraq-Turkey pipeline dropped to only 11.3 million barrels, or 365,000 b/d from 393,000 b/d in April. There are still no exports from the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region of Iraq. The government in Erbil halted their contribution in early April after a dispute with Baghdad over the payment of contractors working in the region.

Total revenues for 2012 now stand at $38.82bn. Oil prices have averaged $111 a barrel and average total exports at 2.28 million b/d.