Baghdad: Iraq’s oil export capacity has surpassed 4 million barrels per day, Oil Minister Bassem Mohammed Khudair announced on Sunday. The country’s current petroleum products output stands at 37 million liters per day, marking an increase of 4 million liters. The announcement was made during the 19th session of the Iraqi Parliament, chaired by Speaker Haibat Al-Halbousi and attended by 232 lawmakers, focusing on Iraq’s domestic fuel crisis, its causes, repercussions, and government measures to address it.
According to National Iraqi News Agency, a statement from the Parliament’s media office revealed that the oil minister highlighted an increase in crude oil exports since he assumed office. Initially, the exports were limited to no more than 200,000 barrels per day due to the Gulf region’s war circumstances. The ministry has now boosted exports to over 4 million barrels per day, including volumes transported from Kirkuk province to Turkey’s Ceyhan port.
Khudair also addressed the domestic petroleum products output, which currently stands at 37 million liters per day. This increase is intended to meet the growing domestic demand that has contributed to the ongoing fuel crisis. He attributed part of the shortage to challenges in importing gasoline amid war-related circumstances, which have created a disparity between refinery output and domestic consumption.
The minister emphasized the previous strategic gasoline stockpile of 350 million liters, pointing out the need for at least 5 million liters of gasoline daily to bridge the gap between refinery production and consumption. As a solution, he proposed importing additional gasoline shipments this year and mentioned ongoing communications with authorities in various countries to secure additional supplies following the Strait of Hormuz’s closure.
Moreover, Khudair stressed the significance of completing maintenance on the FCC unit in Basra, continuing gasoline imports, and attracting investment companies to help mitigate obstacles and address the fuel crisis. The Director General of the Oil Products Distribution Company reported that current gasoline stocks had reached 107 million liters, with August’s gasoline production averaging 28.857 million liters, imports amounting to 3.907 million liters, and domestic consumption reaching 34.540 million liters.
In a separate discussion on exports, the Speaker of Parliament questioned the Director General of the State Organization for Marketing of Oil (SOMO) regarding discounts applied to Iraqi crude compared to global oil prices and the country’s export capacity. The SOMO director general confirmed Iraq’s export capacity at 4.254 million barrels on Sunday, explaining that Iraq bases its crude sales on the number of tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz, while exercising caution with competing companies seeking to purchase Iraqi crude.
The discounts, according to the SOMO director, depend on competition among shipping companies fulfilling their contracts during the crisis, with negotiations determining the rates. Discounts were reported at $26.5 per barrel for medium crude and $28 per barrel for heavy crude. The director reiterated that domestic demand requires importing an additional 5 million liters of gasoline daily to bridge the gap between production and consumption. Iraq is currently importing additional gasoline supplies from Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and European countries via Syria.