Tue Jun 6, 10:50 AM ET
Crude oil production in southern Iraq has reached 1.95 million barrels a day (bpd), a 15-percent rise over the average output of the past 10 months, the Southern Oil Company director has said.
"Since yesterday (Monday) production levels reached 1.95 million bpd," Jabbar al-Luwaibi told reporters on Tuesday. "Average production over the last 10 months has been 1.7 million bpd," he added.
On May 23, then interim oil minister Hashem al-Hashemi said Iraq's total oil production for the northern and southern fields reached 2.1 mpd in April, the highest level since the 2003 fall of the old regime.
An average of 1.62 mpd was exported in April, or the equivalent of the average daily exports in 2002, according to Hashemi.
Iraq's oil sector has been hobbled by ageing infrastructure, a decade of international sanctions under Saddam Hussein, and a relentless campaign of sabotage against pipelines.
The country also loses huge amounts of money in corruption and because of smuggling rings in the oil industry.
Much of the unrest in recent weeks in the southern city of Basra is believed to stem from rivalries between gangs involved in the lucrative smuggling business.
Hussein Shahristani, the new oil minister, has vowed to clean up the sector.