Iraq's oil production to reach 3-mil b d

Iraq's oil production to reach 3-mil b/d by end 2004: minister

Baghdad  (Platts)--11May2004


Iraqi oil minister Ibrahim Bahr al-Ulum said Monday that Iraq was currently
producing an average 2.4-2.45-mil b/d of crude oil and that he expected to
ramp up production to 3-mil b/d by the end of the year. 

Speaking at a Baghdad news conference, Ulum produced 75-mil bbl of crude oil in March and 73-mil bbl
in April. "We are hoping to reach 2.8-mil b/d within the next few months and
then we expect 3-mil b/d by the end of the year," he said. The figure is the
maximum production capacity that Iraq has been able to achieve in recent
years. Ulum did not say if his projections included full production from the
northern Kirkuk oilfields, where output is running below capacity because of
sabotage to facilities. Iraq is not exporting regularly through its northern
pipeline and the Basra and Khor al-Amaya terminals in the south are its main
export outlets. Ulum said exports were currently running below capacity at
1.1-mil b/d because of a pipeline explosion in the south but that full
capacity would be restored within 24 hours.

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