Iraq has further increased output from its southern oilfields to around 2.1 million barrels per day as more tankers line up to load crude from the country’s export terminals in the Gulf, two Iraqi oil officials told Reuters on Tuesday.
The officials said the latest increase was driven mainly by higher production from the giant Rumaila oilfield, where output has reached around 1.1 million bpd.
Output from the Zubair oilfield has been increased by around 120,000 barrels per day to about 320,000 bpd, the officials said.
The Iraqi oil ministry said on Friday that output from the southern fields was expected to exceed 3 million bpd within one to two months.
More tankers have lined up to load Iraqi crude at Iraq’s Gulf export terminals after U.S.-Iran talks eased concerns over shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, the officials said.
Iraq, like other Gulf oil producers, has suffered a sharp decline in oil revenues due to disruptions to regional oil flows and shipping linked to the U.S.-Iran conflict and restrictions affecting traffic through Hormuz.
(Reporting by Aref Mohammed in Basra Additional reporting by Ahmed Rasheed Editing by Mark Potter and Tomasz Janowski)