ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Oil prices fell below $40 Wednesday, as Kuwait reportedly sold a barrel of crude at $38.9, according to the state-run Kuwait News Agency. If verified, this is the lowest price for Brent crude in nearly six years.
Falling prices have sent shockwaves among oil producers, also heavily affecting Iraq and its autonomous northern Kurdistan Region.
Iraq’s state budget dropped from 174 trillion Iraqi dinars (about $145 billion) in 2014 to 120 trillion Iraqi dinars (about $100 billion) this year.
In an with Rudaw published early this month, Iraq’s Finance Minister Hosyar Zebari said that the country has a difficult year ahead due to serious financial shortfalls.
But he added that, according to a new draft budget agreed by Baghdad and Erbil for this year, the Kurds would receive their monthly budget from the central government.
Crude prices have steadily dropped from about $120 per barrel in June last year.
The price of crude has fallen around 40 percent since the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) rolled over its production target at a meeting in November, trying to defend market share rather than prices.
Iraq and Kuwait are both OPEC members.
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