Iraq's Oil Exports Exceed 3.4 Million Barrels a Day So Far in October

Key Facts

Iraqi Oil Minister Basim Mohammed Khudair said in remarks carried by Rudaw on October 19 that the country's exports averaged more than 3.4 million barrels a day so far this month. He added that "Iraqi oil exports this month averaged more than 3.4 million barrels a day." The minister said in the remarks, also carried by the Middle East News Agency, that September exports averaged 3 million barrels a day. He had announced in August that exports that month had fallen to 1.75 million barrels a day, according to Asharq Al-Awsat. The increase in export volumes comes in a country where oil exports account for about 90% of revenue, according to Agence France-Presse.

Reuters had previously reported average September exports of 2.65 million barrels a day, compared with the figure the minister gave for the same month in his latest remarks. The total reported by the agency included 250,000 barrels a day through Turkey's Ceyhan port during September. The minister said in his October remarks that exports were moving through the Strait of Hormuz and Ceyhan port, as well as by trucks taking the route through Syria, according to the Middle East News Agency. Before the war, Iraq's exports stood at about 3.3 million barrels a day, according to a report published by The National in October. Most of those shipments passed through the Strait of Hormuz after leaving the southern ports of Basra.

On the financial front, Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein estimated his country's losses during the war at about $60 billion, AFP reported on October 16. The agency said in the same report that Iraq's foreign exchange reserves had fallen by $20 billion. Iraq also devalued the dinar, according to an Associated Press report on the decision to adjust the exchange rate. The agency said the dinar's depreciation helps the government cover domestic spending from dollar-denominated oil revenues. The government thus receives more local currency when converting its dollar oil revenues to finance spending within the country.

In a move involving maritime transport, the Iraqi Oil Tankers Company moved a cargo of 2 million barrels beyond the Strait of Hormuz, according to a report published by The National on October 4. The newspaper described the operation as the company's first of its kind in decades. On the Syrian route, Iraqi fuel oil shipments trucked to Baniyas reached at least 2.1 million tonnes from April through the newspaper's October 9 report. Efforts to restore the pipeline between Iraq and Syria had received U.S. backing, according to Investing.com, citing Bloomberg in July. A U.S. State Department official at the time affirmed Washington's support for the two countries' efforts to improve trade routes by restarting the pipeline between them.

Projects to expand export outlets include an agreement announced by the oil minister in August with a Chevron-led consortium to build a pipeline running from Basra to the far north, according to Asharq Al-Awsat. The project's proposed capacity is 2 million barrels a day, according to estimates the minister presented when announcing it. The minister estimated the project's cost at about $15 billion. Explaining the pipeline's route in remarks carried by Reuters in August, he said it would start in Basra and extend to Fishkhabur. The project also includes a branch running from Haditha to Syria's Baniyas, as part of the route the minister outlined to connect export outlets.

The Iraqi-Turkish pipeline agreement announced in August includes a minimum target for Iraqi crude exports of 750,000 barrels a day, according to AP. The agreement stipulated that it would remain in force for one year, the agency reported when it was announced. During that period, the two sides will finalize a broader framework agreement for cooperation. Alongside the pipeline arrangements, the Iraqi Oil Tankers Company is in talks to buy dedicated crude tankers of its own, according to The National's report published on October 4. The ship purchase talks are part of the company's efforts to develop its means of transporting Iraqi crude by sea.