Amman — Iraqi southern crude oil exports in July surged to a record high of 3.543 million b/d, data from the oil ministry showed Wednesday, despite OPEC's second largest oil producer facing major protests near its key oil assets.
Exports in July were up 22,000 b/d from June as loadings from the Persian Gulf terminals beat the previous record of 3.535 million b/d set in December 2017, data showed.
The rise occurred despite the continued suspension of loadings from the Khor Al-Amaya terminal due to sea line leaks and routine maintenance.
The exports comprised 2.70 million b/d of Basrah Light crude and 843,000 b/d of Basrah Heavy, according to figures obtained from sources close to the State Oil Marketing Organization.
Iraq oil output and exports have not been impacted by civil disturbances and violent demonstrations around some of the key oil fields such as Rumaila (1.5 million b/d), West Qurna 1 (500,000 b/d) and West Qurna 2 (380,000 b/d), all in Basra province, which currently account for 55% of federal Iraq production.
The demonstrations are over jobs and basic services, with anger at the government directed at the oil industry of which Basra is by far the largest participating province.
The ministry statement quoted spokesman Asim Jihad as saying the average provisional price during July was $69.16/b, a rise of 40 cents/b from the price in June while oil revenues totaled $7.6 billion last month.
All of the federal exports were from Iraq's southern Persian Gulf oil terminals, with no shipments from the Turkish port of Ceyhan.
A political dispute with the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government has prevented federal exports of some Kirkuk crude through the region's own pipeline to Turkey, while the federal pipeline to Turkey was destroyed by the self-styled Islamic State militant group in early 2014.
Meanwhile, the KRG shipped 9.8 million barrels or 316,129 b/d in July compared to 9.5 million barrels or 316,666 b/d in June, according to reports obtained from sources at Ceyhan.
