Bad weather cuts Basra oil exports

Baghdad, September 11, 2011

Oil exports from Iraq's southern Basra terminal dropped to 1.36 million barrels per day on Sunday from 1.94 million bpd the previous day due to bad weather, a shipping source said.

'High winds around the Basra oil port made it difficult for ships to reach berth,' the shipper said on condition of anonymity.

Exports from Basra, Iraq's main oil-exporting hub, can fluctuate widely due to weather or technical problems.

Iraq, which has some of the world's largest crude reserves, exported an average 2.189 million bpd in August, including an average of 1.728 million bpd from Basra, the State Oil Marketing Organisation said.

Iraq's current oil production is 2.75 million bpd, the first time it has reached that level in 20 years, as investment increases and violence drops. – Reuters

Tags: Exports | Baghdad | Bad weather | Basra |