Tuesday, June 22nd 2010Economist: Iraq will become first oil exporter in world
Baghdad, Iraq will become the best source of oil in the world after the Iraqi Oil Ministry succeeded in developing its works regarding the sale of crude oil, an Iraqi economic expert said on Tuesday.
The Oil Ministry succeeded this month in developing the oil exports, though the country is witnessing tension between the political blocs about the formation of the next government, Yaser al-Jabiri said.
"Iraq's oil exports reached 58.7 million barrels per month and the sale capacity mounted to $4.335 million, which will make Iraq the first oil-exporting country if the export of oil remained the same." al-Jabiri said.
The ministry is responsible for improving its performance during the coming stage to support the country's economy, he added.
The Iraqi Oil Ministry has recently signed an agreement to develop pipelines, which links Iraq's oil fields to the Turkish Ceyhan port, and for 12 years, in order to improve the export of oil to the European Union countries.
The southern Iraqi port exports the largest proportion of oil, ranging between 600 thousand barrels to one million barrels per day, while the northern port exports only 450 thousand barrels per day.
"The increased production of oil during the recent period is an evidence about the efforts exerted to resolve all the problems that hinder the export of oil in the country, especially the problems between the federal government and Kurdistan Regional Government, (KRG)" al-Jabiri said.
The oil pipeline with Syria will be rehabilitated which will help increase the output of crude oil over the next six years.
Iraq signed in 2010 several contracts with international oil companies to develop its oil fields within the first and second licensing rounds in order to increase the production to 11 million barrels per day.
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