Iraq’s crude oil exports ease in October

Oil

Iraq’s crude oil exports fell by 20K b/d m-o-m to 3.44M b/d in October, easing after reaching a sixteen-month high during September, Energy Intelligence reports. Loadings of Kurdish and Kirkuk crude via the Turkish port of Ceyhan fell by 40K b/d m-o-m to 420K b/d, whereas shipments from the Southern port of Basrah increased by 20K b/d m-o-m and 220K b/d y-o-y to 3.02M b/d. Despite rising to the highest level since June 2020, exports from Basrah remain down by around 590K b/d compared to the record volume achieved in November 2017, as loadings continue to be restrained by a range of infrastructure complications. One of the five single-point moorings (SPM) was forced to close on 17 October for around three weeks due to scheduled maintenance, while another SPM is also currently offline.

Iraq was around 116% compliant with its OPEC+ crude oil output quota for October, with production falling by around 30K b/d m-o-m to average 4.07M b/d across the month. This is 80K b/d short of Iraq’s target of 4.15M b/d.