Iraq is targeting an oil exports target for 2010 of an average 2.1 million barrels per day, a senior official of the State Oil Marketing Organisation (Somo) said on Monday.

The official, who declined to be named, said Iraq planned to export 1.6 million bpd from its southern fields and 500,000 bpd from the north.

The official, attending an Opec meeting in the Angolan capital on Tuesday, also said it was possible that output would increase before the end of the year from the Rumaila oilfield as work from BP and China's CNPC takes effect.

Rumaila pumps around 1.05 million bpd which the two companies hope to raise to 2.85 million bpd. – Reuters