 |
| (Maritime Executive) |
Iraq’s oil exports have reached a sustained level over the last three months. That’s likely because the country is cheating on its OPEC production quotas once again. At the same time, prices have settled as well since the start of the year.
Iraq has been
exporting the same level of oil for the last three months. In July it averaged 3.566 million barrels a day, which was on line with the 3.52 million in
June and 3.572 million in May. At the start of the year it exported 3.649
million in January, 3.621 million February, and then dropped to 3.377 million
in March and 3.466 million in April as the country had to comply with a new OPEC production cut. Since April, its exports have risen because
Iraq is not following its quota. Last year it was one of the biggest cheaters because it has always tried to boost its
revenues since oil accounts as its main source of funds. So far its oil
shipments have been up from an average of 3.498 million barrels a month in 2018
to 3.538 this year.
The problem for Iraq
is that its prices and revenues have not been up. In July Iraqi crude sold for $61.15 per barrel.
That was up from $60.58 in June, but down from the peak price of $67.41 during
the year in April. For the year, Iraq’s petroleum has been going for $62.37 per
barrel, which is down from $65.61 last year. That has translated to lower
monthly income. In July Iraq made $6.761 billion. For the year it has averaged
$6.676 billion a month that is down from $6.953 billion a month in 2018. The
country needs to earn as much as possible each year because it is running a
deficit. Officials say they need it for reconstruction after the war with the
Islamic State, but that is not true. Every time oil prices go up the government
passes a budget that greatly increases public spending especially on government
salaries and pensions. That’s what the country needs its oil revenue for.
Federal Oil Exports, Prices, Revenues 2014-2019
|
Month
|
Avg
Export (Mil)
|
Avg
Price
|
Earnings
(Bil)
|
|
Jan 2014
|
2.228
|
$102.37
|
$7.073
|
|
Feb
|
2.799
|
$102.05
|
$7.9
|
|
Mar
|
2.396
|
$101.03
|
$7.507
|
|
Apr
|
2.51
|
$100.69
|
$7.582
|
|
May
|
2.58
|
$100.69
|
$8.077
|
|
Jun
|
2.423
|
$102.96
|
$7.47
|
|
Jul
|
2.442
|
$102.27
|
$7.8
|
|
Aug
|
2.375
|
$97.44
|
$7.172
|
|
Sep
|
2.542
|
$90.76
|
$7
|
|
Oct
|
2.461
|
$81.12
|
$6.19
|
|
Nov
|
2.51
|
$70.40
|
$5.238
|
|
Dec
|
2.94
|
$57
|
$5.195
|
|
2014 Totals
|
2.517
|
$92.39
|
$7.017
|
|
Jan 2015
|
2.535
|
$41.45
|
$3.258
|
|
Feb
|
2.597
|
$47.43
|
$3.449
|
|
Mar
|
2.980
|
$48.24
|
$3.449
|
|
Apr
|
3.077
|
$51.70
|
$4.8
|
|
May
|
3.145
|
$55.87
|
$5.447
|
|
Jun
|
3.187
|
$55.32
|
$5.289
|
|
Jul
|
3.105
|
$50.99
|
$4.908
|
|
Aug
|
3.079
|
$40.59
|
$3.925
|
|
Sep
|
3.052
|
$40.32
|
$3.725
|
|
Oct
|
2.703
|
$39.56
|
$3.29
|
|
Nov
|
3.363
|
$36.42
|
$3.66
|
|
Dec
|
3.216
|
$29.84
|
$2.92
|
|
2015 Totals
|
3.003
|
$44.81
|
$4.094
|
|
Jan 2016
|
3.285
|
$22.21
|
$2.262
|
|
Feb
|
3.224
|
$23
|
$2.249
|
|
Mar
|
3.287
|
$28.40
|
$2.894
|
|
Apr
|
3.363
|
$33.38
|
$3.368
|
|
May
|
3.2
|
$37.78
|
$3.748
|
|
Jun
|
3.175
|
$40.36
|
$3.845
|
|
Jul
|
3.203
|
$38.28
|
$3.802
|
|
Aug
|
3.229
|
$29.24
|
$3.928
|
|
Sep
|
3.276
|
$38.89
|
$3.822
|
|
Oct
|
3.384
|
-
|
$4.426
|
|
Nov
|
3.47
|
$40
|
$4.216
|
|
Dec
|
3.52
|
-
|
$5.074
|
|
2016 Totals
|
3.302
|
-
|
$3.625
|
|
Jan 2017
|
3.321
|
-
|
$5.002
|
|
Feb
|
3.270
|
-
|
$4.514
|
|
Mar
|
3.258
|
$47.18
|
$4.766
|
|
Apr
|
3.253
|
$47.27
|
$4.607
|
|
May
|
3.261
|
$47
|
$4.623
|
|
Jun
|
3.273
|
$42.07
|
$4.144
|
|
Jul
|
3.230
|
$43.80
|
$4.386
|
|
Aug
|
3.216
|
-
|
$4.608
|
|
Sep
|
3.24
|
-
|
$4.882
|
|
Oct
|
3.346
|
$52.59
|
$5.456
|
|
Nov
|
3.502
|
$59.19
|
$6.021
|
|
Dec
|
3.535
|
$59.35
|
$6.504
|
|
2017 Totals
|
3.309
|
-
|
$4.959
|
|
Jan 2018
|
3.490
|
$63.29
|
$6.847
|
|
Feb
|
3.426
|
$60.14
|
$5.770
|
|
Mar
|
3.453
|
$59.95
|
$6.418
|
|
Apr
|
3.340
|
$64.60
|
$6.502
|
|
May
|
3.489
|
$69.80
|
$7.551
|
|
Jun
|
3.521
|
$69.32
|
$7.323
|
|
Jul
|
3.544
|
$69.16
|
$7.532
|
|
Aug
|
3.583
|
$69.65
|
$7.735
|
|
Sep
|
3.56
|
$74.15
|
$7.919
|
|
Oct
|
3.478
|
$73.38
|
$7.908
|
|
Nov
|
3.377
|
$61.09
|
$6.195
|
|
Dec
|
3.726
|
$52.80
|
$6.234
|
|
2018 Totals
|
3.498
|
$65.61
|
$6.953
|
|
Jan 2019
|
3.649
|
$56.15
|
$6.367
|
|
Feb
|
3.621
|
$60.83
|
$6.179
|
|
Mar
|
3.377
|
$63.80
|
$6.709
|
|
Apr
|
3.466
|
$67.41
|
$7.021
|
|
May
|
3.572
|
$66.68
|
$7.329
|
|
Jun
|
3.52
|
$60.58
|
$6.372
|
|
Jul
|
3.566
|
$61.15
|
$6.761
|
|
2019 Totals
|
3.538
|
$62.37
|
$6.676
|
SOURCES
Kullab, Samya, “February production falls as OPEC cuts begin to bite,”
Iraq Oil Report, 3/17/19
Lando, Ben, “Oil exports jump to more than 4 million barrels a day from
Iraq,” Iraq Oil Report, 8/2/19
Malek, Miriam, “Iraq’s brighter oil future at odds with meeting OPEC
quota,” Platts, 6/29/19
Rwanduzy, Mohammed, “Iraq’s oil revenues increase slightly in July
despite low price on world market,” Rudaw, 8/1/19
Turak, Natasha, “Iraq could be the next ot break ranks with OPEC, analyst
says,” CNBC, 12/4/18
No comments:
Post a Comment