Southern Oil Exports Rise

Oil exports from southern Iraq increased by almost 300,000 bpd in the first two weeks of this year, compared to the December average, according to a report from Reuters.

Exports averaged 2.35 million bpd in the first 15 days of January, up from 2.08 million bpd in December.

Although this is seen as a sign that Iraq is delivering on its plan to increase supply significantly, Iraq is still catching up with loading delays caused partly by bad weather.

The State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO) has cut crude allocations to some customers for February.

Work is said to be finished at the new terminals, and they should be capable of handling exports of more than 2.5 million bpd.

From the north, Iraq also exports about 300,000 bpd from its Kirkuk fields to the port of Ceyhan in Turkey.

(Source: Reuters)