Iraq has been steadily increasing its oil exports in 2015 to
new record highs. This has been accomplished due to the deal between the
central and Kurdistan regional governments. The country has also benefited from
a steady rise in prices as well. Still, Iraq is not making its marks set in the
2015 budget meaning that its financial problems will continue.
In May
Iraq exported an average of 3.145 million barrels a day. That was a record high
and surpassed April’s 3.077 million barrels, which itself was the previous
high. That was made possible by the southern Basra ports exported 2.67 million barrels and
the Kurds shipping 451,000 barrels a day. Iraq has not exported this much oil
since 1990
when it averaged 3.5 million barrels. At the same time the 2015 budget calls
for 3.3 million barrels.
The price for Iraqi crude went up as well. In May a barrel
of Iraqi oil sold for $55 up from $51.70 the previous month. That was a nice
increase from the start of the year when Iraq could only sell its crude for
$41.45 per barrel. Again, like exports this is below the amount set in the
budget, which was $56 per barrel. Still, Iraq earned $5.3 billion in May. That
was the most since it made $6.12 billion in October 2014.
Iraq is slowly getting to the quotas set in the 2015 budget,
but the problem is by the time it gets there it will have made itself such a
hole financially it will not be able to get out of it. The Oil Ministry plans
on exporting 3.3 million in June. Oil Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi recently said
that he expected oil prices to reach $75 per barrel by the end of the year. Still
that will be six months into the year, and even with planned increases the
country will not earn enough to meet all of its obligations. The government is
already operating largely on a month-to-month basis. Many projects have been shut
down and some government workers not paid. The country is also dealing with
massive bills to fund the war against the Islamic State. The problem as ever
was that politicians with little knowledge of economics drew up the budget with
unattainable objectives. The oil market was crashing due to increased
production and lower expectations of international growth. That didn’t stop
parliament from drafting a budget that had a deficit even if Iraq was able to
meet its export and price marks. Now the nation is facing the consequences of
that bad planning.
Iraq
Oil Exports & Revenues 2014-15
|
Month
|
Avg.
Exports
|
Avg.
Price
Per
Barrel
|
Earnings
|
|
Jan. 14
|
2.228
|
$102.37
|
$7.074
|
|
Feb
|
2.799
|
$102.05
|
$8.001
|
|
Mar
|
2.396
|
$101.03
|
$7.507
|
|
Apr
|
2.509
|
$100.69
|
$7.582
|
|
May
|
2.582
|
$100.69
|
$8.077
|
|
Jun
|
2.423
|
$102.96
|
$7.470
|
|
Jul
|
2.442
|
$102.27
|
$7.742
|
|
Aug
|
2.375
|
$97.44
|
$7.172
|
|
Sep
|
2.542
|
$90.76
|
$6.916
|
|
Oct
|
2.432
|
$81.12
|
$6.120
|
|
Nov
|
2.51
|
$70.40
|
$5.25
|
|
Dec
|
2.941
|
$56.59
|
$5.161
|
|
2014
Avg.
|
2.51
|
$92.39
|
$7.013
|
|
Jan
|
2.535
|
$41.45
|
$3.258
|
|
Feb
|
2.597
|
$47.43
|
$3.449
|
|
Mar
|
2.98
|
$48.24
|
$4.46
|
|
Apr
|
3.077
|
$51.70
|
$4.8
|
|
May
|
3.145
|
$55
|
$5.3
|
2015
Oil Exports From Basra
Jan 2.39 mil/bar/day
Feb 2.29 mil/bar/day
Mar 2.71 mil/bar/day
Apr 2.62 mil/bar/day
May 2.67 mil/bar/day
2015
Oil Exports By Kurds
Jan 153,000 bar/day
Feb 306,000 bar/day
Mar 268,000 bar/day
Apr 450,000 bar/day
May 451,000 bar/day
SOURCES
Iraq, Ali Abu, Van Heuvelen, Ben and Lando, Ben, “Oil
exports keep pushing record highs,” Iraq Oil Report, 6/2/15
New Sabah, “Rising oil exports in May exceeded five billion
dollars,” 6/1/15
Shamseddine, Reem, “Iraqi oil minister sees rising demand;
crude at $75 by year end,” Reuters, 6/5/15
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