Iraq oil production up 650,000 barrels per day to 3.35 million in 2012 and will average 3.7 million bpd in 2013

Iraq’s production surged 650,000 barrels a day this year to 3.35 million, the biggest annual gain in 14 years. Iraq plans to boost output to an average 3.7 million barrels a day in 2013 and at some point in the year match the 1979 record of 3.8 million, Oil Minister Abdul Kareem Al-Luaibi told reporters in Vienna on Dec. 9.

Saudi Arabia reduced its output to 9.67 million barrels a day last month, according to a monthly report from OPEC that cited secondary sources for its data. In its own direct communication to OPEC, the kingdom said November production was even lower, at 9.49 million.

Iranian oil production, which slumped to 2.65 million barrels a day in October, the lowest level since February 1990, may climb if a new government can come to an agreement with Western nations.

Libya, rebuilding its oil industry after last year’s uprising against Muammar Qaddafi, plans to raise output to 1.7 million barrels a day next year from about 1.5 million a day this month, Oil Minister Abdulbari Al-Arusi said in Vienna.

Iraq is also planning to raise exports to 2.9 million barrels a day in 2013 from its current 2.6 million barrels a day

Most of the increase next year would come from Iraq’s supergiant Majnoon oil field in southern Iraq. “Majnoon is going to produce more than 100,000 barrels a day at the beginning of April,” Mr. Luaiby said. Royal Dutch Shell is developing the 13 billion barrels Majnoon.

Other increases will come from Rumaila, Zubair and West Qurna-1 which are producing now 1.35 million, 300,000 and 400,000 barrels a day respectively, the minister said. They are being developed by BP PLC, Eni SpA and Exxon Mobil. The figure also includes 200,000 barrels a day of supply from Kurdistan.

Iraq’s crude oil exports have been increasing steadily over the last few months, thanks to new single-point mooring, SPMs, buoys built in the Gulf and the resumption of crude oil exports from the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan in northern Iraq.

SOURCE – Bloomberg, Zawya

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