Iraq's crude exports from Basrah hit record high in July

Oil

Iraq's crude oil exports from Basrah in July rose to a record high of 3.06M b/d, according to the country's Ministry of Oil. This was more than 600K b/d higher than July 2014 exports and up from June 2015's previous peak of 3.02M b/d. However, overall exports were down m-o-m at 3.1M b/d, due to a significant drop in Kirkuk volumes, which fell by around 124K b/d to 40K b/d. The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has been increasing its independent oil sales since mid-June and reducing its allocations to Iraq's state oil marketer SOMO, Reuters reports. This follows increased tensions between the Iraqi federal government and KRG over budget payments and export rights.