Iraq Plans to Boost Southern Oil Export Capacity by 72% after Three Years

Iraq, OPEC’s second largest producer, plans to boost the capacity of its southern oil export facilities by 72% to 6 million b/d after 2023 and wants to build storage tanks to help reach that target, a deputy oil minister said Dec. 26
Iraq will construct 24 storage tanks with a capacity of 58,000 cu m to help ramp up its southern export capacity from 3.5 million b/d now, Karim Hattab said in an oil ministry statement.
The country is forging ahead with plans to boost its crude production capacity to 7 million b/d by 2027, oil minister Ihsan Ismaael said Oct. 20.
Iraq pumped 3.8 million b/d in November, according to the latest S&P Global Platts survey of OPEC+ production, in line with its 3.804 million b/d quota.
The country has struggled to stick to its quota in 2020 and had pledged to make up for May-August overproduction by implementing 600,000 b/d in so-called “compensation cuts” between September and December, under the OPEC+ accord. However, it has failed to implement the additional cuts.
Iraqi compliance
Iraq’s financial crisis, low oil prices and the pandemic have affected its ability to adhere to OPEC+ quotas, but its compliance has improved in the last few months of 2020.
OPEC+ decided in a Dec. 3 meeting to taper its oil production cuts and raise collective output 500,000 b/d in January, instead of the original 1.9 million b/d hike slated for the beginning of next year due to anemic global oil demand.
Under the new January quota, Iraq is allowed to pump 3.857 million b/d.
OPEC+ ministers are set to meet Jan. 4 to amid plans to adjust production levels monthly, so as not to overwhelm the still-recovering market with new supplies, ministers have said

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