Iraq oil exports rise to 2.359mn bpd in January

BAGHDAD: Iraq's oil exports climbed to 2.359 million barrels per day (bpd) in January from 2.340 million bpd the previous month, oil ministry officials said on Sunday.

Iraq shipped 2.095 million bpd from the southern oil hub of Basra and 264,000 bpd from the northern fields around Kirkuk, including 11,000 barrels trucked to Jordan, they said.

Slowing exports from the Kurdish region and repeated attacks on the major export line to Ceyhan port in Turkey have significantly reduced Iraq's shipments from the north.

The Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) and the central government in Baghdad have been locked in a lengthy dispute over oil payments to producers in the Kurdish area.

The dispute was further aggravated at the start of January with the beginning of independent crude oil exports by the KRG via truck to Turkey, a blow to Baghdad's claim to full control over Iraqi oil.

Iraq's January crude shipments from the southern oilfields were higher by around 75,000 bpd compared to previous monthlevels of 2.02 million bpd.

Iraq has set a target to export around 2.2 million bpd from the south, but bad weather and maintenance work at Iraq's giant Rumaila oilfield have disrupted exports, oil officials said.

OPEC member Iraq has the world's fourth-largest oil reserves and is targeting exports of 6 million bpd by 2017.