.Iraqi Oil Exports Rise by 9.2 Percent
BAGHDAD (AP) - Iraq's oil exports rose 9.2 percent last year, the Oil Ministry announced Thursday, largely because improved security allowed pumping to resume through a pipeline from northern oil fields.
The rise in 2007 exports reached nearly 600 million barrels, or an average of 1.6 million barrels per day - still short of the estimated 2.5 million barrels a day before the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.
But overall Iraqi oil production - accounting for exports and rising domestic use - is now approaching prewar levels, suggesting Iraq could quickly boost its shipments if the recent reduction in violence holds and oil export facilities are improved with foreign investment.
Part of the export rise came from the repair of a key northern pipeline from the Kirkuk oil fields to Turkey's Ceyhan terminal on the Mediterranean Sea. The line was damaged by sabotage in 2003.
Early this month, the Iraqi Oil Ministry said it upgraded its oil facilities in 2007 with the help of nearly $560 million in contracts with international companies.
Iraq aims to increase crude production to 3 million barrels a day by the end of the year - which would exceed levels under Saddam Hussein's regime.
Oil accounts for more than 90 percent of revenues in Iraq, which has the world's third-largest crude oil reserves with an estimated 115 billion barrels.
In dire need of expertise, Iraq decided this month to rely on a Saddam-era oil investment law until parliament can break an impasse and approve new codes to share oil wealth among the country's Shiites, Sunni Arabs and Kurds.
The Oil Ministry has set a Feb. 18 deadline for international oil firms to register to compete for tenders to help develop selected oil and gas fields. Companies that already have submitted proposals include Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM), BP PLC (BP), Chevron Corp. (CVX) and Royal Dutch Shell PLC. (RDSB)
Iraq signed a $65 million contract with China last year to buy three oil tankers. Iraq's tanker fleet was battered by the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war and then again during the first Gulf War in 1991.
MyWay
The rise in 2007 exports reached nearly 600 million barrels, or an average of 1.6 million barrels per day - still short of the estimated 2.5 million barrels a day before the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.
But overall Iraqi oil production - accounting for exports and rising domestic use - is now approaching prewar levels, suggesting Iraq could quickly boost its shipments if the recent reduction in violence holds and oil export facilities are improved with foreign investment.
Part of the export rise came from the repair of a key northern pipeline from the Kirkuk oil fields to Turkey's Ceyhan terminal on the Mediterranean Sea. The line was damaged by sabotage in 2003.
Early this month, the Iraqi Oil Ministry said it upgraded its oil facilities in 2007 with the help of nearly $560 million in contracts with international companies.
Iraq aims to increase crude production to 3 million barrels a day by the end of the year - which would exceed levels under Saddam Hussein's regime.
Oil accounts for more than 90 percent of revenues in Iraq, which has the world's third-largest crude oil reserves with an estimated 115 billion barrels.
In dire need of expertise, Iraq decided this month to rely on a Saddam-era oil investment law until parliament can break an impasse and approve new codes to share oil wealth among the country's Shiites, Sunni Arabs and Kurds.
The Oil Ministry has set a Feb. 18 deadline for international oil firms to register to compete for tenders to help develop selected oil and gas fields. Companies that already have submitted proposals include Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM), BP PLC (BP), Chevron Corp. (CVX) and Royal Dutch Shell PLC. (RDSB)
Iraq signed a $65 million contract with China last year to buy three oil tankers. Iraq's tanker fleet was battered by the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war and then again during the first Gulf War in 1991.
MyWay
posted by madtom at 4:15 PM
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