ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq’s average daily oil production has recovered to more than three million barrels, with exports exceeding two million barrels per day, the country’s oil ministry said on Monday.
The increase could help ease the economic hardship facing Iraq following a dramatic drop in oil production and exports caused by the US-Iran war.
“The average level of oil production in Iraq has reached more than three million barrels,” Salim al-Rukabi, spokesperson for the Iraqi Oil Ministry, told Rudaw’s Hastyar Qadir.
Iraq’s oil production and exports fell sharply after the US and Israel launched their six-week war against Iran on February 28. Before the conflict, Iraq produced more than 4.5 million barrels per day.
The drop has rendered Iraq unable to pay its civil servants on time.
Rukabi said exports through Iraq’s southern ports were averaging between two million and 2.2 million barrels per day, while exports through the Kurdistan Region to Turkey’s Ceyhan port stood at between 150,000 and 180,000 barrels per day.
The latest figures mark a significant recovery from July, when Iraq exported about 49 million barrels of crude, averaging nearly 1.6 million barrels per day, according to previous statements by oil ministry officials.
Iraq and Turkey signed a one-year oil transit agreement earlier this month after their previous deal expired in late July. Rukabi described the new arrangement as a “temporary agreement,” with exports expected to increase gradually until reaching the agreed capacity.
Under the deal, Iraq is required to export at least 750,000 barrels of oil per day, but current volumes remain well below that level. Production in the Kurdistan Region has been largely suspended following attacks by Iran and its proxies in Iraq on oil fields, with companies citing security concerns.
The Iraqi oil production recovery comes as Baghdad seeks to restore exports disrupted by the regional conflict and reduce its dependence on the Strait of Hormuz, through which at least 94 percent of Iraq’s seaborne crude exports historically passed.
Before the crisis, Iraq exported around 100 million barrels of crude per month. Exports fell to 18.6 million barrels in March, generating about $1.96 billion in revenue, compared with more than 99 million barrels and $6.8 billion in February.
Iraqi Oil Minister Bassim Khudair last week stressed the need to develop alternative export routes to protect the country’s economy from future disruptions, saying Iraq’s oil fields have the capacity to restore production and exports to pre-war levels.
