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Iraq reports record oil exports from Gulf
Vienna, Dec 05: Despite setbacks in rebuilding its shattered oil industry, Iraq boosted oil production to 2.1 million barrels a day last month and exported record volumes of crude from its terminal in the Gulf, Iraq`s delegation to Opec said.
Vienna, Dec 05: Despite setbacks in rebuilding its shattered oil industry, Iraq boosted oil production to 2.1 million barrels a day last month and exported record volumes of crude from its terminal in the Gulf, Iraq's delegation to Opec said.
Iraq's output and exports have both grown at rates "exceeding earlier expectations," the Iraqi oil ministry said in a communique issued after a meeting of the organization of petroleum exporting countries at Opec's Vienna headquarters yesterday.
Opec member Iraq hopes to maintain this momentum and increase its daily production to an average of 2.3 million barrels in December and 2.8 million barrels by next April. By comparison, Iraq pumped about 2.5 million barrels a day on the eve of the US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.
Iraq shipped 1.5 million barrels a day from its Basrah terminal last month, more than at any time since the terminal opened in the late 1980s, the communique said. Although Iraq exported some 2.1 million barrels a day before the war, that amount included crude from the country's northern oil fields, which are currently shut off from a strategic export pipeline to Turkey due to repeated sabotage. Iraq aims to increase its exports to 1.7 million barrels a day by the end of this year and 2 million barrels a day by April. The Basrah terminal - known formerly as Mina el-Bakr - was captured early in the war in good condition. However, it has a maximum export capacity of about 1.5 million barrels a day, and it was not immediately clear how the Iraqis expected to ship any additional crude beyond that.
Bureau Report
Opec member Iraq hopes to maintain this momentum and increase its daily production to an average of 2.3 million barrels in December and 2.8 million barrels by next April. By comparison, Iraq pumped about 2.5 million barrels a day on the eve of the US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.
Iraq shipped 1.5 million barrels a day from its Basrah terminal last month, more than at any time since the terminal opened in the late 1980s, the communique said. Although Iraq exported some 2.1 million barrels a day before the war, that amount included crude from the country's northern oil fields, which are currently shut off from a strategic export pipeline to Turkey due to repeated sabotage. Iraq aims to increase its exports to 1.7 million barrels a day by the end of this year and 2 million barrels a day by April. The Basrah terminal - known formerly as Mina el-Bakr - was captured early in the war in good condition. However, it has a maximum export capacity of about 1.5 million barrels a day, and it was not immediately clear how the Iraqis expected to ship any additional crude beyond that.
Bureau Report