Federal Iraq crude oil exports jumped to a three-year high 3.38mn b/d in April as Baghdad put field outages behind it. Exports from key southern terminals and the northern pipeline route to Turkey’s Ceyhan port are now running close to capacity limits, raising questions about Iraq’s ability to increase output much beyond current levels (MEES, 6 May).
Exports rose by 135,000 b/d last month, with the gains driven primarily by a 72,000 b/d increase from the key Basra export terminals and a 53,000 b/d addition through the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline. Revenues dipped slightly from March’s record $10.91bn to $10.55bn – still the second highest figure on record (see chart) – as prices eased slightly from $108.50/B to $104.09/B. The March figure was revised down from state-marketer Somo’s preliminary $11.07bn figure (MEES, 8 April). (CONTINUED - 695 WORDS)
