Basra (Reuters) – A senior official in the Iraqi oil sector, said crude exports from southern Iraq ports amounted to 3.162 million barrels per day on average since the beginning of the month, down slightly from May / May due to maintenance work, and increasing user demand for fuel oil to generate electricity.
Said Hayan Abdul-Ghani Abdul-Zahra, head of the South Oil Company in an interview that the expected exports, which include 850 thousand barrels of Basrah heavy year-end stability.
He «with the start of summer electricity demand terminals and refineries for crude oil increased to around 550 thousand barrels per day and exports account on this.»
He added that power plants and refineries were used 440 thousand barrels per day before increasing electricity consumption as temperatures rise.
He said Iraq, the second largest oil producer in the «OPEC», aims to increase oil storage capacity in the south to 14 million barrels per day by the first half of 2018, from 11.5 million currently, to adapt to export bottlenecks that occur due to bad weather, and to accommodate the expected increase in production.
He explained that Iraq is planning to run a fourth floating oil export platform by mid-2017, to increase the export capacity of the ports of the south to 4.5 million bpd from 3.6 million bpd now.
In the past year, Iraq was the fastest source in «OPEC» for the growth of supply, where production has increased more than 500 thousand barrels per day, despite spending cuts and the war against al-Islamic state.
And hurt the collapse of world oil prices, revenues of the government, which relies on crude in almost all their income.
The fall in prices has stoked fears that the growth of oil production in Iraq may slow down or stop. And it warned oil companies from Iraq that the projects will be delayed if the government insisted on a sharp reduction in spending this year.
She said Abdul Zahra said there is a need for further talks with «Exxon Mobil» and »PetroChina», which guarantees equity of Iraq last year on a project worth several billion dollars to boost production from the fields of Nahr Ibn Umar and Artawi, two two fields PB small airstrips in the south of the country produce now 35 thousand and 17 thousand barrels a day, respectively.
He said without specifying a time frame «We have reached a tentative agreement that the two fields produce up to 550 thousand barrels per day.»
Most of Iraq’s production of five giant fields comes. She said Abdul Zahra said the production of the Rumaila, the largest oil field in Iraq, which is managed by «BP», currently stands at 1.45 million barrels per day, an increase of more than 60 thousand barrels per day from last year.
He added that the West Qurna 1, which was developed by «Exxon Mobil» produces 450 thousand barrels per day, while producing West Qurna 2, developed by «Lukoil» 405 thousand barrels per day. The Majnoon field, which is managed by «Shell» 220 thousand barrels per day production, and Zubair, which is managed by «Eni» 360 thousand barrels per day.
Brett McGurk 
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