Basra Oil Company says 2.7 million barrels a day are being exported
Oil exports from Iraq’s southern ports are stable at 2.7 million barrels a day (b/d) so far this month, according to state-owned Basra Oil Company (BOC).
Director of BOC Khalid Hamza outlined the latest export data in a statement released on 24 February.
The current export level is in line with Iraq’s commitments detailed in the Opec+ cuts agreement.
Hamza said Iraq remained committed to the cuts outlined in the Opec+ deal.
The latest announcement regarding oil exports comes days after Iraq’s Oil Minister Ihsan Abdul Jabbar announced that the country had decided against an oil supply deal with a Chinese state-owned company that would have resulted in an upfront payment of $2bn.
Baghdad opted not to go ahead with the contract after oil prices rose in recent months, Ihsan Abdul Jabbar said in an interview with BBC Arabic.
In November, Iraq asked oil traders to bid for a five-year supply deal.
Baghdad proposed delivering 4 million barrels a month, or about 130,000 barrels a day, with the buyer paying upfront for one year of supply.
In December, it was reported that China’s Zhenhua Oil Company, a subsidiary of defence contractor Norinco, had won the bid.
Oil prices have increased by 62 per cent since the start of November, rising to around $63 a barrel.
After prices stabilised, “we decided to freeze this attempt or option and we didn’t activate it,” BBC Arabic reported Jabbar as saying.
This article is published by MEED, the world’s leading source of business intelligence about the Middle East. MEED provides exclusive news, data and analysis on the Middle East every day. For access to MEED’s Middle East business intelligence, subscribe here.
