SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Iraq halted over a tenth of its oil output due to maintenance and protests in Basra and Dhi Qar provinces, Reuters reported on Friday.
Authorities in Dhi Qar halted 80,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil production and exports from its Nasiriyah oil field due to worker safety concerns, Reuters cited state-owned Dhi Qar Oil Company as saying.
University graduates have engaged in violent protests in the southern Dhi Qar province in recent days to demand jobs.
Separately, the Iraqi government shut down its southern West Qurna 2 oilfield until March 2-10, two state oil officials told Reuters.
West Qurna 2, operated by Russia’s Lukoil, produces about 400,000 bpd of crude oil.
Iraq’s 480,000 bod of crude outages make nearly 0.5% of global oil supply and come at a fragile time for oil markets.
The Iraq Oil Report, an industry magazine, earlier reported that the shutdown of West Qurna 2 would last until March 14.
Iraq produced 4.25 million bpd of crude in January, down by 26,000 bpd from the previous month, according to an average of six secondary sources used by the OPEC secretariat.
