The maintenance work on Iraq’s southern oil infrastructure,
which started in September 2013 continued into the middle of October. This is
important construction as it is supposed to lay the foundation for further
expansion of the industry that is planned for next year. As a result of the
work however exports have been down for the last two months. The Oil Ministry
wanted to boost output in October to make up for the cutbacks in September. The
figures did go up last month, but were still down from the yearly average.
October’s export numbers were better than September’s, but
still below expectations. Last month Iraq exported an average of 2.25 million barrels a day. That was up from 2.07 million barrels in September, which
was the lowest amount since February 2012 when there was an average of 2.01
million barrels. Exports were cut in September because of repair work on the
southern export terminals and related pipelines. That continued into the middle of October when all four loading berths in Basra were finally up and
running again. The Oil Ministry was hoping that it would be able to increase output in October to make up for September, but that didn’t quite work.
That was seen in Basra’s export figures. In July it exported an average of 2.32
million barrels, then 2.30 million in August before the dip to 1.90 million in
September, and then slightly recovering to 2.06 million in October. To make
matters worse, the northern Kirkuk line saw a drop in October as well. In
August it exported an average of 270,900 barrels, then 250,000 barrels in
October, and 193,000 in October. All the statistics were below the yearly
average. For the year the southern line has been at 2.159 million barrels, the
north at 259,800 barrels, and overall exports at 2.39 million.
Iraq Oil Exports And Profits
2011-2013
Month
|
Avg.
Exports
(Mil/
Bar/
Day)
|
Avg. Price Per Barrel
|
Revenue (Bill)
|
Jan. 11
|
2.16
|
$90.78
|
$6.082
|
Feb.
|
2.20
|
$98.44
|
$6.064
|
Mar.
|
2.15
|
$107.13
|
$7.167
|
Apr.
|
2.14
|
$114.26
|
$7.342
|
May
|
2.22
|
$108
|
$7.45
|
Jun.
|
2.27
|
$105.17
|
$7.173
|
Jul.
|
2.16
|
$108.79
|
$7.311
|
Aug.
|
2.18
|
$104.91
|
$7.124
|
Sep.
|
2.10
|
$104.89
|
$6.619
|
Oct.
|
2.08
|
$104.04
|
$6.742
|
Nov.
|
2.13
|
$106.59
|
$6.833
|
Dec.
|
2.14
|
$106.18
|
$7.061
|
2011 Avg.
|
2.16
|
$105.00
|
$6.913
|
Jan. 12
|
2.10
|
$109.08
|
$7.123
|
Feb.
|
2.01
|
$112.92
|
$6.595
|
Mar.
|
2.31
|
$117.99
|
$8.472
|
Apr.
|
2.50
|
$116.79
|
$8.795
|
May
|
2.45
|
$103.03
|
$7.831
|
Jun.
|
2.40
|
$90.09
|
$6.487
|
Jul.
|
2.51
|
$97.14
|
$7.577
|
Aug.
|
2.56
|
$106.22
|
$8.445
|
Sep.
|
2.59
|
$107.59
|
$8.371
|
Oct.
|
2.62
|
$105.51
|
$8.578
|
Nov.
|
2.62
|
$104.32
|
$8.200
|
Dec.
|
2.34
|
$103.72
|
$7.551
|
2012
Avg.
|
2.41
|
$106.20
|
$7.835
|
Jan. 13
|
2.35
|
$104.92
|
$7.672
|
Feb.
|
2.53
|
$107.66
|
$7.644
|
Mar.
|
2.41
|
$103.76
|
$7.772
|
Apr.
|
2.62
|
$98.70
|
$7.764
|
May
|
2.48
|
$97.23
|
$7.477
|
Jun.
|
2.33
|
$97.41
|
$6.799
|
Jul.
|
2.32
|
$101.00
|
$7.272
|
Aug.
|
2.58
|
$104.45
|
$8.356
|
Sep.
|
2.07
|
$104.84
|
$6.511
|
Oct.
|
2.25
|
$102.60
|
$7.17
|
2013 Avg.
|
2.39
|
$102.25
|
$7.443
|
Oil
Exports Through Basra 2012-2013
January 2012 1.711 mil/bar/day
January 2012 1.711 mil/bar/day
February
1.639 mil/bar/day
March 1.917
mil/bar/day
April 2.115
mil/bar/day
May 2.086
mil/bar/day
June 2.085
mil/bar/day
July 2.216
mil/bar/day
August
2.252 mil/bar/day
September
2.178 mil/bar/day
October
2.172 mil/bar/day
November
2.122 mil/bar/day
December
2.022 mil/bar/day
2012 Avg. 2.042 mil/bar/day
January
2013 2.093 mil/bar/day
February
2.196 mil/bar/day
March 2.1
mil/bar/day
April 2.31
mil/bar/day
May 2.19
mil/bar/day
June 2.13
mil/bar/day
July 2.32
mil/bar/day
August 2.30
mil/bar/day
September
1.90 mil/bar/day
October
2.06 mil/bar/day
2013 Avg. 2.159 mil/bar/day
Oil Exports Through Kirkuk 2012-2013
January
2012 393,500 bar/day
February
375,800 bar/day
March
400,000 bar/day
April
393,300 bar/day
May 364,500
bar/day
June
316,600 bar/day
July
300,000 bar/day
August
312,900 bar/day
September
420,000 bar/day
October
451,600 bar/day
November
426,600 bar/day
December
325,800 bar/day
2012 Avg. 373,300 bar/day
January
2013 264,500 bar/day
February
339,200 bar/day
March
316,100 bar/day
April
306,600 bar/day
May 283,800
bar/day
June
193,300 bar/day
July
180,600 bar/day
August
270,900 bar/day
September
250,000 bar/day
October
193,000 bar/day
2013 Avg. 259,800 bar/day
Prices for Iraqi crude saw a slight decline in October as
well. For the month a barrel of Iraqi petroleum went for $102.60, down from
the previous two months when it was at $104. That brought in $7.17 billion in October, up from September’s $6.511 billion. That was the third lowest
amount for the year, and below the annual average of $7.443 billion.
Despite the slight setback in October, the Iraqi government
still has big plans heading into 2014. It’s hoped that the work in Basra will
allow export capacity there to increase to 4.5 million barrels a day. The south
is where the vast majority of the country’s petroleum reserves lay, and where
most of the major foreign companies are operating. Bottlenecks and bad weather
in the south largely regulate how much the country can ship. Last month also
saw Lukoil begin pumping at the West Qurna 2 field for the first time. Finally, in anticipation of that future growth the Oil Ministry announced three
new state-run energy companies in October. Those included the Oil Services
Company, the Crude Oil Pipeline Company, and the Gas Pipeline Company. (8) The
Oil Services Company will deal with extracting oil, drilling, and maintenance
work on oil wells. The Crude Oil Pipeline Company is going to operate pumping
stations for storage depots and handle pipeline repairs. The Gas Pipeline
Company will have responsibility for the storage, exports, and local use of
natural gas. The hydrocarbons industry is state-run after being nationalized in
the 1970s.
Iraq aspires to be one of the largest oil producers in the
world in a few years. Its old and decrepit infrastructure, red tape, and other
issues have consistently held up these plans. The work in the south was part of
the process to expand the nation’s capacity. While exports dropped for two
months the predictions are that they will see a large increase next year.
SOURCES
Aswat al-Iraq,
“Increase in Iraqi oil exports for October, 2013,” 11/1/13
Bierman,
Stephen, “Lukoil Pumps Oil at Iraq’s West Qurna-2, Sees Sales by Year-End,”
Bloomberg, 10/25/13
Lee, John,
“Basra Export Terminal Fully Reopened,” Iraq Business News, 10/15/13
Al Rafidayn,
“Average Iraqi oil exports rise to 2.253 million b / d in October,” 11/2/13
Reuters, “Iraq
crude exports drop in September,” 10/4/13
No comments:
Post a Comment