Iraq Announces Increased Oil Exports in March
As Iraq’s Oil Ministry forecasts an increase in oil exports, certain political parties express their skepticism, writes Omar al-Shaher.
Iraq announced that its oil exports during the month of March rose to nearly 75 million barrels, compared to its exports in February, which amounted to 71 million barrels. Meanwhile, the deputy chairman of the Finance Committee in the Iraqi parliament said that the Oil Ministry is using these figures to [divert attention from] the fact that it failed to deliver on its commitments to achieve a real increase in the volume of exports.
A spokesman for the Iraqi Oil Ministry, Assem Jihad, said in a statement received by Al-Monitor that the crude oil exports for the month of March witnessed an increase in the exported quantities and revenues, as the volume of exports reached 74.9 millions barrels with a revenue that amounted to $7.77 billion.
Jihad said, “The exported quantities of crude oil for the month of March last year include oil from Basra (in the south), whose total exports reached 65.1 million barrels,” explaining that “their revenue amounted to $6.76 billion.” He went on to say that oil exports from Kirkuk (in the north) amounted to 9.8 million barrels with revenue that reached $1.08 billion. “The average selling price was $103.77 per barrel,” he added.
The ministry's statement did not mention the volume of daily exports, but according to the announced numbers, Iraq currently exports about 2.5 million barrels per day. This represents an increase of about 200,000 barrels from the size of Iraqi exports reached before the toppling of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in 2003 by US forces.
