Iraq's March 1-21 crude output averages 2.0-2.1 mil b/d: official

Iraq's March 1-21 crude output averages 2.0-2.1 mil b/d: official

Dubai (Platts)--27Mar2006

Iraq's crude oil production for the first three weeks of March averaged
around 2.0-2.1 million b/d, while exports stood at some 1.5 million b/d for
the same period, a senior Iraqi oil ministry official said Monday.
"So far, so good," said Shamkhi Faraj, head of ministry's finance and
marketing affairs. "Oil exports are over 1.5 million b/d as an average for the
three weeks."
Iraq's crude exports from the Persian Gulf Basra and Khor al-Amaya
terminal stood at 60,000 barrels/hour Monday, with two vessels currently
loading crude at a rate of 40,000 barrels/hour and 20,000 barrels/hour, a
shipping agent said.
"Things are quite normal," the agent said, adding that two vessels were
waiting at anchorage to load crude.
Iraq's southern crude output and exports have remained at steady rates
through February and into March with a reduction in weather-related
disruptions and electricity outages.
Iraqi oil ministry figures obtained by Platts March 7 also showed a sharp
jump in crude production and exports during February. The figures showed that
Iraq produced an average of 1.915 million b/d of crude last month, up 290,000
b/d from January's average levels.
But Kirkuk crude exports to the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan have
remained off line through 2006 with only intermittent pumping in 2005 because
of ongoing acts of sabotage.
There have been 16 oil infrastructure related attacks since the start of
2006 and around 99 incidents in 2005, the Institute for the Analysis of Global
Security reported. The institute provides regular updates on attacks against
the country's oil facilities.
"There has been no pumping for a while," a Ceyhan-based shipping agent
said. Production from northern Iraqi fields slipped by 70,000 b/d to 180,000
b/d in February, the oil ministry figures showed.
--Glen Carey, glen_carey@platts.com

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