Iraq’s oil production, including flows from the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, rose 0.6% month on month in July, State Oil Marketing Organization said Aug. 10, even as the country pumped below its OPEC+ quota.
OPEC’s second-biggest producer pumped an average 3.886 million b/d in July, compared with 3.862 million b/d in June, SOMO data showed.
Iraq’s OPEC+ quota rose to 4.016 million b/d in July from 3.954 million b/d in June as the coalition continued to raise production caps.
Iraq’s August quota is 4.061 million b/d as the OPEC+ coalition begins relaxing production by 400,000 b/d each month through December, adding 2 million b/d by the end of 2021.
Total exports rose 0.7% to 3.344 million b/d as federal volumes increased 0.9% to 2.918 million b/d and Kurdish flows fell 0.4% to 425,800 b/d, according to SOMO data.
Domestic use, which includes crude burn and refinery runs, fell 17.5% to 501,000 b/d.
Stocks at the end of July saw a 41,000 b/d build, compared with a drawdown of 65,000 b/d at the end of June.
Better compliance
Iraq struggled for most of 2020 at the beginning of 2021 to adhere to its OPEC+ quota amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the oil price rout, and the financial crisis gripping the country.
However, compliance has improved in the past few months as its quota has risen.
OPEC+ clinched an agreement July 18 to raise its crude oil production between August and December, while also allocating five members more generous output quotas starting May 2022, resolving a dispute with the UAE that had threatened to destabilize the oil market and the organization itself.
Iraq was one of the five countries that negotiated a higher baseline for its quota, which will rise from 4.653 million b/d through April 2022 to 4.803 million b/d from May 2022.
The deal also extends the OPEC+ supply management pact to the end of 2022, from its previous expiry of April 2022.
The next OPEC+ meeting is scheduled for Sept. 1.
Source: Platts