Amman (Platts)--7Nov2008

Iraq's crude oil production in October rose to 2.407 million b/d, up
130,000 b/d from September, but remained below the 2.5 million b/d post-war
high for the second consecutive month.

Iraqi ministry of oil figures obtained by Platts showed that production
remains 131,000 b/d below the August level of 2.538 million b/d, the highest
since the US-led war of March 2003.

The decline in production since August was due mainly to lower output
from southern fields, where some wells have been shut due to high water
content, informed sources told Platts.

Southern fields produced 1.812 million b/d in October, slightly above
1.803 million b/d produced in September but down from the nearly 2 million b/d
produced from the south in August.

Production from northern fields rose slightly to 595,000 b/d last month
from 591,000 b/d.

Exports totaled 1.694 million b/d in October, up 51,000 b/d from
September but still way below the 2.011 million b/d post-war high achieved in
May.

Exports from northern fields fell to 309,000 b/d from 322,000 b/d in
September. The volume exported includes crude loaded onto tankers at the
Turkish port of Ceyhan, supplies to the Turkish Kirikkalle refinery by
pipeline from the terminal, as well as oil exported to Jordan by road tankers.

Iraq resumed supplies to Jordan in mid-September.

Exports from southern fields were also slightly higher at 1.385 million
b/d from 1.321 million b/d in September.

Local refineries and power stations were supplied by 259,000 b/d from
northern fields in October and by 288,000 b/d from the southern fields, giving
a country total of 546,000 b/d for the month.

The unaccounted for oil in the south during October--a figure obtained by
subtracting total exports and internal rates from production and adjusting for
the increased local stock levels--was calculated by Platts to be 139,000 b/d
compared with 185,000 b/d in September.

The presence of this unaccounted for oil has fueled accusations and
allegations about the presence of widespread corruption and smuggling within
the Iraqi oil industry that were and are the subject of numerous reports by
various Iraqi, UN and US monitoring agencies and the media.
--Faleh al-Khayat, newsdesk@platts.com