Iraq oil production rises 15 percent in southern fields

BASRA, Iraq (AFP) – Crude oil production in southern
Iraq has reached 1.95 million barrels a day (bpd), a 15-percent rise over the average output of the past 10 months, the Southern Oil Company director has said.

“Since yesterday (Monday) production levels reached 1.95 million bpd,” Jabbar al-Luwaibi told reporters on Tuesday. “Average production over the last 10 months has been 1.7 million bpd,” he added.

On May 23, then interim oil minister Hashem al-Hashemi said Iraq’s total oil production for the northern and southern fields reached 2.1 mpd in April, the highest level since the 2003 fall of the old regime.

An average of 1.62 mpd was exported in April, or the equivalent of the average daily exports in 2002, according to Hashemi.

AFP