Iraq’s oil production in May went below OPEC+ quota
The Majnoon oil field near Basra, Iraq. Photo: Reuters
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – A source at the State Organization for Marketing of Oil (SOMO) revealed on Tuesday that Iraq’s production of crude oil recorded 3.955 million barrels per day in May, 17,000 barrels per day more than April’s production, Reuters reported.
SOMO mentioned that the production of crude oil in May was 265,000 barrels per day below the quota Iraq agreed upon with OPEC+ after pledges of additional voluntary cuts, Reuters added.
The Iraqi Minister of Oil, Hayan Abdul-Ghani, announced earlier this month that Iraq decided to extend the oil production cut of 211,000 barrels per day until December 2024 as a necessary protective measure, in coordination with member states in the OPEC+ agreement.
Abdul-Ghani indicated that countries taking part in the OPEC+ agreement announced last April that they were intending to reduce oil production, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Oil.
Oil production in Iraq has been affected since its oil pipeline in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, which pumps 450,000 barrels per day to the Turkish port of Ceyhan, was stopped on March 25.
The halt took place following an arbitration decision issued by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) obliging Turkey to pay $1.5 billion in compensation to Baghdad for the unlicensed oil exports carried out by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) between 2014 and 2018.