Iraq finished 2015 on a good note with new highs in its oil
exports. Unfortunately, that came at time when there was a glut in supply in
the global petroleum market causing the country’s revenues to decline by almost
50%.
In December Iraq exported
an average of 3.215 million barrels a day. That was down from November’s 3.365
million, which was a record post-2003 high. That figure was due to oil being
released from storage because of bad weather the month before, which shut down
the Basra ports. Otherwise, December might have had the highest average of the
year. All of that oil came from the south as the Kurds have not sent any oil to
Turkey for Baghdad since September. Iraq ended the year averaging 3.003 million
barrels a day. That was a 19.6% increase from 2014’s 2.51 million barrels.
Iraq Oil Report pointed out two major reasons why the
country’s exports have increased over the year. One was that new infrastructure
came on line increasing capacity in the south. Probably the most import of
which was the opening of three single point mooring points, the third of which
started operating in January
2015. The second was that Iraq began selling two grades of petroleum, Basra
Heavy and Basra Light. That allowed southern fields to expand production that
have a heavier grade of crude.
The rise in exports came as prices continued to plummet.
December a barrel of Iraq’s crude went for $29.84 the lowest price of the year.
A year before the country was averaging $92.39 per barrel. It finished 2015 at
less than half that price at $44.81.
For December Iraq earned
$2.793 billion. Like prices that was the lowest amount of the year. In 2014
the nation averaged $7.013 billion per month. In 2015 that was down to $4.079
billion.
Like all the major oil producing countries Iraq is trying to
deal with the collapse in prices by expanding exports. That is only maintaining
the glut in supply. The result is that revenues continue to plummet. That will
put huge strains upon Iraq that relies upon oil for almost all of its revenue.
Most of the country’s development projects came to a halt in 2015. If prices
keep on falling it may not even be able to meet operational costs, which are
huge with a bloated public sector and a large number of pensioners.
Iraq
Oil Exports & Revenues 2014-15
|
Month
|
Avg.
Exports
|
Avg.
Price
Per
Barrel
|
Earnings
(Bil)
|
|
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
|
$4.457
|
|
Apr
|
3.077
|
$51.70
|
$4.8
|
|
May
|
3.145
|
$55.87
|
$5.447
|
|
Jun
|
3.187
|
$55.32
|
$5.289
|
|
Jul
|
3.104
|
$50.99
|
$4.908
|
|
Aug
|
3.079
|
$40.59
|
$3.874
|
|
Sep
|
3.052
|
$40.32
|
$3.692
|
|
Oct
|
2.7
|
$39.56
|
$3.320
|
|
Nov
|
3.365
|
$36.42
|
$3.67
|
|
Dec
|
3.215
|
$29.84
|
$2.793
|
|
2015
Avg.
|
3.003
|
$44.81
|
$4.079
|
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 2.69 mil/bar/day
Jun 3.022 mil/bar/day
Jul 3.064 mil/bar/day
Aug 3.021 mil/bar/day
Sep 3.03 mil/bar/day
Oct 2.7 mil/bar/day
Nov 3.37 mil/bar/day
Dec 3.215 mil/bar/day
2015
Oil Exports By Kurds For Baghdad
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
Jun 164,733 bar/day
Jul 41,000 bar/day
Aug 50,900 bar/day
Sep 21,500 bar/day
Oct 0.0
Nov 0.0
Dec 0.0
SOURCES
Al-Ansary, Khalid and Ajrash, Kadhim, “Iraq Says It Exported
More Than 1 Billion Barrels of Oil in 2015,” Bloomberg, 1/1/16
Lando, Ben, “Iraq ends turbulent oil year on high note,” Iraq
Oil Report, 1/5/15
Lando, Ben, Osgood, Patrick, “Record oil exports, but half
the money,” Iraq Oil Report, 1/5/16
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