Iraq oil exports fall
July 26, 2010
Exports drop on bad weather and bomb attacks.
Reuters
Iraq’s oil exports fell to 1.823 million barrels per day in June from 1.9 million bpd the month before, due to bad weather and bomb attacks, an Iraqi oil official said on Monday.
Iraq exported an average of 1.44 million bpd from the southern oil hub of Basra and 383,000 bpd from the northern oilfields around Kirkuk, including 10,000 bpd by trucks to Jordan, Oil Ministry spokesman Asim Jihad told Reuters.
“Sabotage actions in the north and bad weather in the south were reasons for the decline of oil exports in June,” Jihad said.
The average selling price was about $71.10 per barrel, he added.
Exports from Basra, Iraq’s main oil-exporting hub, can fluctuate widely due to weather conditions or technical problems, while repeated bomb attacks hampered crude flow from Kirkuk fields in recent months.
Falah al-Amri, head of the State Oil Marketing Organisation (SOMO), told Reuters earlier this month Iraq’s crude exports in June averaged 1.9 million barrels per day.
The OPEC member has signed deals with global oil firms that could boost its output capacity to 12 million bpd in six to seven years’ time from the current 2.5 million bpd, potentially rivalling top producer Saudi Arabia.
Iraq hopes the deals will generate the billions of dollars it desperately needs to rebuild its economy.
July 26, 2010
Exports drop on bad weather and bomb attacks.
Reuters
Iraq’s oil exports fell to 1.823 million barrels per day in June from 1.9 million bpd the month before, due to bad weather and bomb attacks, an Iraqi oil official said on Monday.
Iraq exported an average of 1.44 million bpd from the southern oil hub of Basra and 383,000 bpd from the northern oilfields around Kirkuk, including 10,000 bpd by trucks to Jordan, Oil Ministry spokesman Asim Jihad told Reuters.
“Sabotage actions in the north and bad weather in the south were reasons for the decline of oil exports in June,” Jihad said.
The average selling price was about $71.10 per barrel, he added.
Exports from Basra, Iraq’s main oil-exporting hub, can fluctuate widely due to weather conditions or technical problems, while repeated bomb attacks hampered crude flow from Kirkuk fields in recent months.
Falah al-Amri, head of the State Oil Marketing Organisation (SOMO), told Reuters earlier this month Iraq’s crude exports in June averaged 1.9 million barrels per day.
The OPEC member has signed deals with global oil firms that could boost its output capacity to 12 million bpd in six to seven years’ time from the current 2.5 million bpd, potentially rivalling top producer Saudi Arabia.
Iraq hopes the deals will generate the billions of dollars it desperately needs to rebuild its economy.