IRAQ: Oil Minister Abdul Kareem Luaibi, says his country expects oil exports to reach 2.6 million barrels per day this month and has expanded the capacity of its export facilities in the south

Record ID: 345133

  • Title: IRAQ: Oil Minister Abdul Kareem Luaibi, says his country expects oil exports to reach 2.6 million barrels per day this month and has expanded the capacity of its export facilities in the south
  • Date: 16th July 2014
  • Summary: SOUTH RUMAILA OILFIELDS, BASRA, IRAQ (JULY 16, 2014) (REUTERS) IRAQI MINISTER OF OIL ABDUL KAREEM LUAIBI, OIL OFFICIALS AND REPRESENTATIVES OF BRITISH PETROLEUM (BP) WALKING TO HALL TO GIVE NEWS CONFERENCE LUAIBI STANDING WITH OIL OFFICIALS AND WALKING TO PODIUM 3 .OIL OFFICIALS AND REPRESENTATIVES OF BRITISH PETROLEUM SITTING INSIDE HALL OIL OFFICIALS AND REPRESENTATIVES OF BRITISH PETROLEUM AND JOURNALISTS SITTING INSIDE HALL (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) IRAQI OIL MINISTER, ABDUL KAREEM LUAIBI, SAYING: "Our current production is around 3.15 million barrels per day, and our exports this month will exceed 2.6 (million barrels per day), God willing." JOURNALISTS / PAN TO LUAIBI AND BP REPRESENTATIVE (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) IRAQI OIL MINISTER, ABDUL KAREEM LUAIBI, SAYING: "Security situation is totally stable in our oilfields and the government is paying due attention to more security measures for oil installations. Indeed, over the past weeks we have taken a set of measures in coordination with the security forces to boost security measures at all sites, just to make international oil companies working in Basra feel more at ease." OIL OFFICIALS ATTENDING NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) IRAQI OIL MINISTER, ABDUL KAREEM LUAIBI, SAYING: "This is the first time Iraq is using these planes (drones) to fly over the energy installations in the south, and they will be very useful for us and will help give us a clear image of the security measures." BASRA OIL TERMINAL, IRAQ (JULY 16, 2014) (REUTERS) OIL VESSEL LOADING OIL AT SINGLE POINT MOORING EMPLOYEE OF SOUTH OIL COMPANY MONITORING OIL LOADING OF VESSEL CLOSE-UP "SOUTH OIL COMPANY" WRITTEN ON HELMET OF COMPANY'S EMPLOYEE / OIL VESSEL ON BACKGROUND OIL VESSELS AT BASRA OIL TERMINAL MORE OF OIL VESSELS AT BASRA OIL TERMINAL
  • Embargoed: 31st July 2014 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Iraq
  • Country: Iraq
  • Topics: Business,Industry,Politics,Energy
  • Reuters ID: LVA1KR7ALUUVRN75P6B71JUBN46D
  • Story Text: Iraq expects oil exports to reach 2.6 million barrels per day (bpd) this month and has expanded the capacity of its export facilities in the south to 3.0 million barrels daily, Oil Minister Abdul Kareem Luaibi said on Wednesday (July 16).
    Speaking on a tour of the giant Rumaila oilfield which pumps more than a third of Iraq's daily production, Luaibi also sought to reassure international firms that unrest in other parts of the country would not affect its southern oil facilities.
    As an extra security measure, two drones were ready to start flying over the Basra region in what he said was a sign of the priority which authorities assigned to protecting oil facilities and operators.
    Current daily production was running at 3.15 million bpd, Luaibi said, and exports were expected to pick up from last month's dip to 2.423 million bpd, attributed by officials to maintenance work and expansion of a berth at Basra oil terminal.

    "Our current production is around 3.15 million barrels per day, and our exports this month will exceed 2.6 (million barrels per day), God willing," Lubaibi said, noting that Iraq has managed to expand its export capacity and now its export facilities can handle exporting more than 3 million barrels per day.
    July's expected 2.6 million bpd export level would match the country's exports in May, which were the highest since 2003, when U.S.-led forces invaded Iraq to overthrow Saddam Hussein.
    The years of conflict which followed Saddam's fall have put a brake on plans for Iraq, which sits on some of the world's largest oil reserves, to ramp up output.
    But Luaibi said the assault by Islamic State militants through northern Iraq towards Baghdad had not had any effect on its oil production or export operations further south, saying that he had met the foreign companies working in Basra and assured them that the security situation is very stable in the oilfields in the south.

    "Security situation is totally stable in our oilfields and the government is paying due attention to more security measures for oil installations. Indeed, over the past weeks we have taken a set of measures in coordination with the security forces to boost security measures at all sites, just to make international oil companies working in Basra feel more at ease," the minister told reporters.
    Despite this authorities had taken extra security steps to reassure the international firms, and Luaibi said two drones were ready to start monitoring the skies over Basra "to provide a clearer picture of the southern oilfields and energy installations".

    "This is the first time Iraq is using these planes (drones) to fly over the energy installations in the south," he said.
    Iraq said two years ago it was buying unmanned drones from the United States to help protect its southern oil platforms, and that it expected the drones to be operating by the end of 2012.
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