ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Iraq's daily oil production has reached nearly 2.5 million barrels per day (bpd), while exports through Turkey are running at nearly 200,000 bpd, the Iraqi oil ministry said on Monday.
"Overall, daily oil production is between 2 - 2.5 million barrels," Salim al-Rikabi, spokesperson for Iraq's oil ministry, told Rudaw's Hastyar Qadir, noting that current production levels remain unstable and are linked to export conditions and developments in the Strait of Hormuz such as tanker availability and loading volumes at Syria's Baniyas port.
Before the outbreak of the Iran-US-Israel conflict on February 28, Iraq was producing more than four million barrels of oil per day, according to the ministry. Rikabi said crude exports through Turkey's Ceyhan port currently stand at approximately 200,000 bpd.
Instability in the Strait of Hormuz has created challenges for Iraq's oil exports. Before regional tensions escalated, nearly 90 percent of Iraq's oil exports passed through the strategic waterway.
Iran restricted maritime access for vessels passing through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital global energy trade route which sees the transit of a fifth of global energy exports, at the start of the six-week war between the US, Israel, and Iran in late February.
Iraq resumed crude shipments to Syria by tanker through the Waleed border crossing in Anbar province on March 31. Around 350 to 400 oil tankers passed through the route daily, carrying crude that is later exported to international markets. In June, the oil ministry told Rudaw that production had increased to nearly 1.5 million bpd.
Iran and the US signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in mid-June which led to the reopening of the waterway, with the latest figures reflecting the significant increase since then.
While Rikabi had predicted earlier in June that oil-exporting OPEC+ member countries had agreed to raise production targets by 188,000 bpd starting in July, and a projected increase of Iraq's quota by 26,000 bpd, he warned that export disruptions and weakened regional trade could limit Iraq's ability to fully realize that goal.
Oil exports remain a key source of revenue for both Baghdad and Erbil. Iraqi Oil Minister Hayyan Abdul Ghani said in February that crude exports from the Kurdistan Region through Turkey's Ceyhan port had ranged between 200,000 and 210,000 bpd before regional tensions escalated.
