Iraq oil production rose by more than 100,000 b/d in April: OPEC

Iraq’s oil production rose to 3.3m b/d in April, more than 100,000 b/d above the figure reported in March, figures in the monthly OPEC Oil Market report show.

Aggregate oil output by the six OPEC Gulf states in April was 21.9m b/d, accounting for 74 per cent of OPEC’s total crude production (see table below).

According to OPEC figures, Iraqi production hit 3.5m b/d in February compared with just over 3m b/d in 2013. The February output figure was the highest in Iraq’s history. In 2013, Iraqi oil production exceeded Iran’s for the first time since OPEC was formed in 1960.

Fears that oil prices would fall significantly in 2014 on higher non-OPEC and Iraqi output have yet to be realised. The average price of the OPEC basket in the year to the end of April 2014 was $104.68 compared with $105.87 in 2013 as a whole. It rose by more than 75 cents to $105.03 in the month ending 14 May.

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  March April % change
Iran      2,778      2,775 -0.11
Iraq      3,196      3,298 3.19
Kuwait      2,778      2,775 -0.11
Qatar        726        738 1.65
Saudi Arabia      9,556      9,579 0.24
UAE      2,746      2,731 -0.55
Total Gulf 6    21,780    21,896 0.53
Total OPEC (12)    29,462    29,593 0.44
Gulf/OPEC (%)        0.74        0.74  
Source: OPEC