A report issued on Friday by S&P Global Commodity Insights revealed that oil companies operating in the Kurdistan region of Iraq increased their oil production despite the closure of the Iraq-Turkey oil pipeline.
Financial statements of five oil firms operating in Iraqi Kurdistan demonstrate that their combined crude oil output increased to 173,000 barrels per day in the second quarter of 2024 compared to 170,000 barrels per day in the first quarter.
Before the closure of northern Iraq’s main export pipeline to the Turkish port of Ceyhan in March 2023, Iraqi Kurdistan was exporting around 182,000 barrels per day; however, the region’s oil exports dropped to 2,000 barrels per day in the quarter that followed the pipeline’s closure.
S&P Global Commodity Insights estimates the region’s total output, including quantities from the nearby Kar Group, to be roughly 250,000 barrels per day, down from approximately 400,000 barrels per day before the closure of the pipeline.
The Norwegian oil company DNO said in February 2024 that its oil production in Iraqi Kurdistan has mostly returned after the impact of the closure of the main export pipeline nearly a year ago.
The company explained that its production is being sold locally at a discounted price.
Crude oil flows of about 450,000 barrels per day from northern Iraq to Turkey stopped after the International Chamber of Commerce issued a ruling in an arbitration case.
The Norwegian company said in a statement that the total production from the DNO-operated Tawke oil field had mostly resumed after the export pipeline was shut down in March 2023, indicating that its production reached 80,000 barrels of oil.
The company managed to increase production by selling more oil to the local market.
DNO claimed to be selling oil for $30 to $35 per barrel, but because drilling has ceased, operating expenses have also dropped, bringing in around $10 million a month.
Tags Iraqi News Kurdistan
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