Iraq Halts Output At Key Southern Oil Field On Violence

AMMAN -(Dow Jones)- Iraq has halted crude oil production at a key southern oil field as tribesmen prevented workers from going to work, a senior Iraqi oil official said Sunday.

“Crude oil production from Majnoon oil field has been suspended for more than four weeks,” the official told Dow Jones Newswires by telephone from Basra.


Majnoon had a daily production of 50,000 barrels a day prior to its suspension, he said.

Tribesmen wanted jobs for their sons; a demand was rejected by the oil ministry in Baghdad.

Most of Iraq’s oil production and exports are from southern oil fields, which produce an average of 1.9 million barrels a day. The south exports 1.5 million barrels a day from offshore oil terminals in the Persian Gulf.

Dow Jones