SULAIMANI – Iraq plans to increase oil exports to over four million barrels per day (bpd) in 2016, as oil prices are expected to remain low, the country’s oil ministry said Wednesday.
In an interview with al-Sumariyah news, undersecretary of Iraq’s Oil Ministry, Thia al-Musawi, said the ministry is looking to reach a production rate of over four million bpd in the first half of 2016.
“The Iraqi economy has been damaged due to the falling price of oil in international markets,” Musawi said. “One of the solutions is to increase oil exports, which we are seeking to increase in the near future.”
Production in Iraq’s southern and central fields rose to 3.75 million bpd this year.
“Oil exports in 2014 averaged 2.5 million barrels per day, while the total in September 2015 was about 3.6 million barrels,” Iraqi oil minister Adil Abdulmahdi said in October. “It’s a significant increase for Iraq.”
Iraqi oil production is hitting historic highs, despite the global slump.
The country exported close to 84 million barrels in October, the oil ministry’s spokesman Assim Jihad said on Nov. 1.
Exports were slightly lower than the previous month in October at 83.9 million barrels, earning the country $3.32 billion in oil revenue.
Jihad said the fall in exports was due to inclement weather that affected logistics in the southern port.
original source: http://www.nrttv.com/EN/Details.aspx?Jimare=4155