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Iraq Oil Exports Stand at 3.4 Mln bpd in Sep

Iraqi flag in front of an oil field. (AFP)
Iraqi flag in front of an oil field. (AFP)
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Iraq Oil Exports Stand at 3.4 Mln bpd in Sep

Iraqi flag in front of an oil field. (AFP)
Iraqi flag in front of an oil field. (AFP)

Iraq exported 103,143,199 million barrels of crude oil in September, generating 9.5 billion US dollars in revenue, the country's Oil Ministry announced on Sunday.

The average price of Iraqi crude oil in Sep. was 92.05 dollars per barrel, the ministry said in a statement, citing statistics from the State Organization for Marketing of Oil (SOMO), an Iraqi company.

The average of exported quantities stood at 3,438,000 bpd in September.

The crude oil barrels were exported from oil fields in central and southern Iraq to neighboring Jordan during the month.

Iraqi oil exports from Kirkuk and the Kurdistan region through the Kirkuk–Ceyhan Oil Pipeline remained suspended since the end of March upon a decision by the Turkish authority after an international court decided that SOMO is the only entity authorized to manage export operations through the Turkish port of Ceyhan.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani stressed Sunday the necessity of completing expansion and maintenance projects for Iraqi oil ports.

During a meeting to follow up on projects and plans for developing the oil sector, Sudani stressed the importance of completing gas projects and expanding investment in Iraqi fields producing natural gas, for the purpose of supplying power stations and national fertilizer-producing factories with their gas needs.

The Iraqi PM further underscored the necessity of completing the refinery projects as quickly as possible, in order to reach self-sufficiency in oil derivatives and fuel.

Iraq’s Oil Ministry announced last week the increase in production capacity at the Karbala refinery to 140,000 bpd.

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IMF: Middle East Conflict Escalation Could Have Significant Economic Consequences

Displaced families, mainly from Syria, gather at Beirut's central Martyrs' Square, where they spent the night fleeing the overnight Israeli strikes in Beirut, Lebanon September 28, 2024. REUTERS/Louisa Gouliamaki
Displaced families, mainly from Syria, gather at Beirut's central Martyrs' Square, where they spent the night fleeing the overnight Israeli strikes in Beirut, Lebanon September 28, 2024. REUTERS/Louisa Gouliamaki
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IMF: Middle East Conflict Escalation Could Have Significant Economic Consequences

Displaced families, mainly from Syria, gather at Beirut's central Martyrs' Square, where they spent the night fleeing the overnight Israeli strikes in Beirut, Lebanon September 28, 2024. REUTERS/Louisa Gouliamaki
Displaced families, mainly from Syria, gather at Beirut's central Martyrs' Square, where they spent the night fleeing the overnight Israeli strikes in Beirut, Lebanon September 28, 2024. REUTERS/Louisa Gouliamaki

The International Monetary Fund said on Thursday that an escalation of the conflict in the Middle East could have significant economic ramifications for the region and the global economy, but commodity prices remain below the highs of the past year.

IMF spokesperson Julie Kozack told a regular news briefing that the Fund is closely monitoring the situation in southern Lebanon with "grave concern" and offered condolences for the loss of life.

"The potential for further escalation of the conflict heightens risks and uncertainty and could have significant economic ramifications for the region and beyond," Kozack said.

According to Reuters, she said it was too early to predict specific impacts on the global economy, but noted that economies in the region have already suffered greatly, especially in Gaza, where the civilian population "faces dire socioeconomic conditions, a humanitarian crisis and insufficient aid deliveries.

The IMF estimates that Gaza's GDP declined 86% in the first half of 2024, Kozack said, while the West Bank's first-half GDP likely declined 25%, with prospects of a further deterioration.

Israel's GDP contracted by about 20% in the fourth quarter of 2023 after the conflict began, and the country has seen only a partial recovery in the first half of 2024, she added.
The IMF will update its economic projections for all countries and the global economy later in October when the global lender and World Bank hold their fall meetings in Washington.
"In Lebanon, the recent intensification of the conflict is exacerbating the country's already fragile macroeconomic and social situation," Kozack said, referring to Israel's airstrikes on Hezbollah in Lebanon.
"The conflict has inflicted a heavy human toll on the country, and it has damaged physical infrastructure."
The main channels for the conflict to impact the global economy have been through higher commodity prices, including oil and grains, as well as increased shipping costs, as vessels avoid potential missile attacks by Yemen's Houthis on vessels in the Red Sea, Kozack said. But commodity prices are currently lower than their peaks in the past year.
"I just emphasize once again that we're closely monitoring the situation, and this is a situation of great concern and very high uncertainty," she added.
Lebanon in 2022 reached a staff-level agreement with the IMF on a potential loan program, but there has been insufficient progress on required reforms, Kozack said.
"We are prepared to engage with Lebanon on a possible financing program when the situation is appropriate to do so, but it would necessitate that the actions can be taken and decisive policy measures can be taken," Kozack added. "We are currently supporting Lebanon through capacity development assistance and other areas where possible."