 |
| (Reuters) |
Iraq’s oil exports dropped in October 2019 after it was criticized by OPEC for violating its production quota. In response the Oil Minister said he would reduce output, which in turn cut foreign sales.
In October, Iraq
exported an average of 3.447 million barrels a day. That was down from 3.576 million in
September and the record high of 3.603 million reached in August. For the year,
Iraq has been averaging 3.5 million barrels a day.
The cause of the
drop was Oil Minister Thamir Ghadban telling OPEC that Iraq would follow the
organization’s production agreement. OPEC is trying to stabilize prices and got
its members to agree to cut output. Iraq has never followed these deals, and
reached an all time high in production in August. Iraq was criticized for that
and the Oil Minister said that he would do a better job meeting the
organization’s quota. The government reduced production at state run fields from 4.48 million
barrels a day in August to 4.35 million in September as result.
Oil prices have also
been declining after rising at the start of the year. In October a barrel of
Iraqi crude went for $57.15 after going for around $60 from February to July. That
resulted in Iraq earning $6.107 billion in October compared to $6.321 billion in September. That was the lowest monthly earnings figure
since February 2018. Despite OPEC’s effort oil prices have been declining
because of a glut in supply and fears of a recession. The problem this poses
for Iraq is that the government is weak at budget planning. When oil prices go
up it vastly increases its spending, mostly on government salaries, and then
when the market inevitably drops Baghdad never plans for it leading to large
deficits and increasingly international borrowing. The country refuses to learn
from its past mistakes because the budget is a political deal not based upon
economics.
Federal Oil
Exports, Prices, Revenues 2014-2019
|
Month
|
Avg Export (Mil)
|
Avg Price
|
Earnings (Bil)
|
|
2014
Totals
|
2.517
|
$92.39
|
$7.017
|
|
2015
Totals
|
3.003
|
$44.81
|
$4.094
|
|
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
|
$6.692
|
|
Aug
|
3.603
|
$57.41
|
$6.413
|
|
Sep
|
3.576
|
$59.14
|
$6.321
|
|
Oct
|
3.447
|
$57.15
|
$6.107
|
|
2019 Totals
|
3.53
|
$61.03
|
$6.553
|
SOURCES
Iraq Oil Report,
“Production falls as Iraq moves toward OPEC compliance,” 10/23/19
Lando, Ben, “Iraqi crude exports decline for second straight
month,” Iraq Oil Report, 11/5/19
Reuters, “UPDATE1 – Iraq Oct oil exports from southern ports
avg 3.34 mln bpd – ministry,” 11/1/19
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