Iraq Triples Northern Oil Exports to 770,000 bpd as Southern Production Drops 70% Amid Hormuz Closure

The Iraqi government has approved a plan to increase crude oil shipments through the northern pipeline from the Kirkuk fields to Turkey’s Mediterranean port of Ceyhan to as much as 770,000 barrels per day within two and a half months. Iraq initially targeted 500,000 barrels per day on the route but raised the goal after the southern export route via the Strait of Hormuz was closed for months.

The blocked strait has cut most of Iraq’s oil shipments from its southern fields.

U.S. and Israeli war on Iran. 3 million barrels per day before the conflict began.

Iraq is OPEC’s second-largest producer and one of the Middle East’s producers most affected by the closure. Unlike Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, Iraq has no alternative route that bypasses the strait, forcing production cuts as storage and available tankers filled. Petroleum sales account for 90 percent of revenues for Iraq’s state budget.

Iraq has done very little in recent decades to diversify its heavy dependence on oil. The government moved to restore the northern export route from the Kirkuk fields to Ceyhan to offset the loss of southern shipments. The plan seeks to triple current pipeline exports through Kurdistan within three months.