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Despite its repeated promises to abide by the OPEC Plus deal, export data shows that Iraq, OPEC’s second-largest oil producer, raised its crude exports slightly in September compared to August, according to the website. ” Oil Price “.
The website, which specializes in energy news, stated that Iraq exported about 78 million barrels of crude oil last month, according to data from the Iraqi Oil Ministry.
He added: “This means that Iraqi crude oil exports averaged 2,613 million barrels per day for the month of September, a slight increase from the 2,597 million barrels per day of crude the country exported in August.”
And Iraq obtained imports worth $ 3.167 billion from its oil exports in September, at an average price of $ 40,407 per barrel it exports.
And Iraq had cut its oil exports last August to 2.597 million barrels a day instead of 2.763 million barrels a day in June, according to data from the Oil Ministry.
“These figures show that OPEC’s second largest oil producer slightly increased its exports in September, even though it has many commitments that need to be made to make up for its past quota breaches,” the site says.
He adds that “Iraq is the member that least complies with the OPEC Plus agreement to reduce production, since it has promised for months to reduce its oil production and commit to its part, but it did not.”
Al-Hurra tried to obtain an official comment from the Iraqi authorities, but Iraqi Oil Ministry officials did not respond to calls.
And Iraqi Oil Minister Ihssan Abdul-Jabbar said in a statement last week that “Iraq is committed to the OPEC + agreement to reduce production and is working with producers that are members of OPEC and outside of it, to confront the challenges facing global oil markets, including the spread of the Covid-19 virus. ” Which caused the drop in world demand for oil. “
The Iraqi minister’s words came after the country’s official newspaper published a statement attributed to Abdul-Jabbar in which he spoke of an imminent agreement with the “OPEC +” group to increase Iraqi crude exports.
During the statement, the Iraqi Oil Ministry denied these reports, saying that “the Oil Minister did not make this statement and did not meet with the newspaper’s correspondent, and the Oil Ministry had previously denied previous statements published by the newspaper in the same context “.
The reduction in exports as a result of the OPEC + cuts has put financial pressure on Iraq, posing a challenge to the government, which is struggling to cope with the consequences of years of war and endemic corruption.
Economic analyst Hamid al-Baka says that “Iraq is in dire need to increase its oil imports after the great deterioration of world oil markets as a result of the outbreak of the Corona virus and falling prices.”
“The recent improvement in the price of crude oil encouraged Baghdad to increase its oil exports in an attempt to cover the deficit in its financial budget,” he added.
Oil prices in global markets have recently experienced slight fluctuations, but have improved significantly compared to the first months of the Corona pandemic outbreak, as the price per barrel is currently between $ 42 and $ 45, compared to less than $ 20 last April.
The decline in oil revenues is a disaster for Iraq, as it depends on oil resources to finance more than 90 percent of the country’s budget.
Iraq needs about $ 4.5 billion to pay salaries and pensions and to ensure its government spending.
The government sector bears the greatest responsibility for securing job opportunities in Iraq, and the government pays the salaries of more than four million people in addition to pensions and welfare for roughly the same number.
