Iraq'a oil exports fall
Iraq's October oil exports fall to average 2.7 mbpd
BAGHDAD, November 2, 2015
Iraq's oil exports dropped sharply in October to an average of 2.7 million barrels per day (mbpd), from 3.052 million bpd the previous month, the oil ministry said, citing shipment delays caused by poor weather.
All of the exports were from Iraq's southern ports, according to an oil ministry spokesman. He said shipments from Iraq's north via Ceyhan in Turkey stopped completely in October after dropping to an average of just 20,000 bpd the previous month.
Revenues from the country's October sales totalled $3.32 billion, with the oil sold at around $39.56 per barrel, the spokesman added.
Shipping data showed exports from the southern terminals were higher for much of October - reaching a record 3.1 million bpd in the first 27 days of the month - but then slowed as poor weather delayed cargoes.
A shipper told Reuters that loading operations had stopped completely from October 28 to 30 due to high winds which he said had snapped ropes holding a ship in Basra port and damaged a loading hose.
Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region has ramped up independent oil sales since mid-June while cutting allocations to Iraq's state oil firm State Oil Marketing Organisation (Somo) in an escalating dispute over export rights and budget payments.
Lower oil revenues are straining Iraq's budget, as it fights an insurgency by Islamic State militants who control swathes of territory in its north and west. --Reuters
