Soaring output from the southern Basra region and sustained production in the Kurdish Kirkuk region boosted Iraq’s oil exports by 27% m/m to 92.4mn barrels in March, ending two straight months of contraction, SOMO official data showed.
Renewed oil output and exports is good news for the central government which is in dire need to generate much needed oil income to finance its surging budget spending.
Exports from the southern Basra region jumped 31% m/m to 84.1mn barrels in March while those from Kirkuk edged down to 8.3mn from 8.5mn in February. A mild recovery of oil prices on the international markets and higher output also lifted Iraq’s value-added oil proceeds by 32% m/m to $4.477bn in March. The average oil price per barrel grew to $48.5 a barrel in March from $46 a barrel a month earlier.
Growth in Iraq is projected to be 1.3% in 2015, reversing a 2.4% contraction in 2014, according to the IMF latest forecasts. Growth will be supported by increased oil production, but non-oil activity is likely to flatten amid difficult security conditions and fiscal spending cuts in response to lower oil prices.
Oil exports are projected to grow from 2.5mn bpd in 2014 to 3.1mn bpd this year, benefiting from the oil sharing agreement between the central government and the Kurdish autonomy in the north.
Related Articles
Egypt brings new gas well online with 10mn cubic feet/day output
Egypt’s Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources is finalising procedures to bring a new natural gas well, North El-Basant-1, into production with an expected output of around 10mn cubic feet ... more
Tunisia kicks off stalled expansion of solar projects with 1.3GW capacity push
Tunisia is finally accelerating the deployment of its large-scale photovoltaic (PV) sector after years of slow progress, with construction now underway across multiple major projects, PV-Magazine ... more
Shell and Petronas seek 20% gas price increase for Egypt’s West Delta marine phase
UK energy major Shell (LON:SHEL) and Malaysia's national oil and gas company Petronas have asked the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) to raise the gas price for the upcoming Phase 12 ... more