ANALYSIS – Iraq on oil export high, needs overhaul for more

DUBAI (Reuters) – Iraq’s oil exports have hit a post-war high, but its failure to attract the huge investment it needs to overhaul crumbling infrastructure will prevent it from becoming one of the world’s top oil powers for some time.

The oil sector is dilapidated after years of sanctions and war, and output is unlikely to rise much further in the next three years despite long-term plans to more than double output.

“In the near term, Iraq is constrained in the volume it can export and consume,” said Alex Munton, analyst at consultancy Wood Mackenzie. “They maybe could pump another few hundred thousand barrels per day through the northern pipeline. They’re not going to get a lot more than that in the next 2-3 years.”

Iraq oil exports hit 2.037 million bpd in July, a high since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. That and higher crude prices have allowed the oil-dependent government to raise the budget.

Reuters