Iraq Revises Down Its June Oil Production And Profits

At the beginning of July 2010 the Iraqi Oil Ministry claimed that its June petroleum output was exactly the same as May. On July 26 however, the Ministry revised down all of its numbers. The government now says that it exported an average of 1.82 million barrels a day in June 2010 compared to 1.9 million barrels a day in May. Originally, the Ministry claimed production had stayed constant at 1.9 million barrels a day across those two months. Overall production dipped four million barrels from 58.7 million in May to 54.7 million in June. The price of a barrel of Iraqi crude has also been taking a hit since reaching a high of $79.66 in April 2010. In May that went down to $73.85, and then to $71.10 per barrel in June. The drop in both exports and price marked the first decline in Iraq’s revenue since the beginning of the year, which has fluctuated between $4.2 billion and $4.4 billion per month. In June the government only brought in $3.889 billion.

The rather steady oil supply and high prices have been a boon for the budget. It was based upon a $62.50 a barrel price, and had a projected deficit of $19.5 billion. Instead Iraq now has around a $10 billion surplus. The Oil Ministry predicts that its output will remain relatively stable for the next few months, as it is currently at capacity.


Monthly Earnings/Prices/Production

Month	Total Oil Earnings	Price Per Barrel	Total Oil Production
Jan. 10	$4.4 bil	$73.97	59.7 mil bar
Feb.	$4.2 bil	$73.40	57.9 mil bar
Mar.	$4.3 bil	$76.20	57.1 mil bar
Apr.	$4.2 bil	$79.66	53 mil bar
May	$4.3 bil	$73.85	58.7 mil bar
Jun.	$3.8 bil	$71.10	54.7 mil bar

SOURCES

AK News, “No substantial change in oil exportation in August,” 7/15/10

Aswat al-Iraq, “Iraq’s oil exports down 4m barrels in June,” 7/26/10

Bayoumy, Yara, “Iraq eyes fall in deficit, investment increase,” Reuters, 6/10/10

Hafidh, Hassan, “Iraq June Oil Exports -4% On Month At 1.823 Million Bbl – Ministry,” Dow Jones, 7/26/10

Iraq Business News, “Iraq’s Oil Exports Hit 1.9m bpd,” 7/8/10

Al Jazeera, “Warnings of a budget deficit in Iraq,” 5/27/10