Iraq oil income drops on lower prices

Iraq is sharpening a push to sell its swelling crude output and sit at oil’s top table with Saudi Arabia, sweetening terms for contract buyers next year, its customers say. Iraqi Oil Minister Abdul-Kareem Luaibi held court to oil executives in Vienna’s Hotel Imperial last week on the sidelines of an OPEC meeting. Some buyers have said they were concerned by higher prices and variable quality.

Iraq's revenues from oil, which account for the lion's share of the country's income, fell in June to their lowest level in 16 months because of rising local demand, an oil ministry spokesman said on Sunday."We exported around 72 million barrels, at a rate of 2.403 million barrels per day (bpd), during June," spokesman Assem Jihad told AFP.He put revenues for the month at $6.453 billion, the lowest such figure since February 2011 when the country took in $6.064 billion in oil sales.

Iraq's oil exports and revenues from crude sales in January hit their highest levels since the 2003 US-led invasion which ousted Saddam Hussein, the oil ministry announced on Wednesday.Iraq exported a total of 67 million barrels of oil last month, generating $6.082 billion in income at an average price of $90.78 a barrel, according to figures published by the ministry."It's the highest exports and revenues for Iraq since 2003, and this will cover the budget deficit if it continues," ministry spokesman Assem Jihad told AFP.

Iraqi oil revenues dipped in February on slightly lower oil prices despite the highest level of exports in 20 years, the oil ministry said on Tuesday."Revenue was 4.229 billion dollars, based on an average price of 73.4 dollars per barrel and exports of 57.9 million barrels," ministry spokesman Assem Jihad told AFP.Iraq had revenues of 4.44 billion dollars in January, based on oil prices of 73.97 dollars per barrel.

Oil exports to the port of Ceyhan in Turkey resumed on Saturday after a week-long interruption because of sabotage to a pipeline in northern Iraq, an oil ministry spokesman said."Exports resumed today at 2:30 pm (1130 GMT). Repairs were completed faster than we had expected," Assem Jihad told AFP."We thought the work would be slowed down because of the Eid al-Adha," he said of the feast that began on Friday in most Muslim countries at the end of the annual hajj pilgrimage.

Production levels at the Baiji oil refinery, Iraq's largest, returned to normal on Friday, six days after an attack damaged its main unit, Iraq's oil ministry said."The damaged unit restarted production and today recovered its normal production level of 150,000 bpd," ministry spokesman Assem Jihad told AFP.The refinery, which was built in 1982 and is located 200 kilometres (125 miles) north of Baghdad, produces 205,000 barrels per day, or 35 percent of Iraq's refining capacity which, excluding Kurdish Iraq, stands at 550,000 bpd.

Iraq initialled a deal with Malaysia's Petronas and Japan's Japex on Monday to develop the Garraf oil field in southern Iraq, oil ministry spokesman Assem Jihad told AFP."Today, the oil ministry initialled a contract with the Petronas-Japex consortium," Jihad said.The two companies are aiming to ramp up output at the field, which has known reserves of 863 million barrels of oil, to 230,000 barrels per day (bpd). They will receive fees of 1.49 dollars per barrel produced.Petronas will take 60 percent while Japex will take the remaining 40 percent.

The world’s top oil forecasters this week all cut their 2013 oil demand forecasts due to subdued economic growth, with the figures showing increasing similarity in the views of producers and consumers. The International Energy Agency (IEA) on Thursday trimmed its global oil demand growth estimate, which followed similar moves by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).