Security Woes Threaten OPEC’s Second Largest Producer

Oilprice.com ^ | 25-01-2016 | Wark Mahlberg

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Iraq has been one of the key contributors to the uptick in OPEC oil production over the past year and a half. Despite the fact that the country’s crude oil output has continuously been plagued by security concerns and faltering payments to international oil companies from both the Kurdish regional government (KRG) and Baghdad and an ongoing row over oil export rights, it has still managed to ramp up production to record levels.

Iraq’s consistent and record oil output last year is, by and large, contributable to the production in the south of the country. According to a January 16. Reuters report, exports from its southern region have been running at 3.297 million barrels per day (bpd) so far in January, representing around 75 percent of the country’s total production.

Iraq’s South Oil Co.’s Deputy Director Salah Mahdi told Reuters in an interview that Iraq’s southern oil exports have been running smooth over the last year and in spite of recent tribal violence in the region, he expects the company’s drilling and export activities to continue undisturbed in 2016.