SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Iraq pumped 4.18 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil in February, 150,000 bpd short of its allowance under a deal with other OPEC+ producers, Reuters reported on Wednesday.
Data from state-owned marketer SOMO showed output rose by just 13,000 bpd from January, according to Reuters.
Iraq, like several other OPEC members, is struggling to pump more even as prices trade at their highest since 2014.
Brent crude futures touched a peak of $117 a barrel on Thursday, the highest since June 2014.
Upgrade work at its Gulf ports, which went on for most of 2021 and are scheduled to be finished in the second quarter, have prevented Iraq from pumping larger volumes.
Iraq has also temporarily halted more than a tenth of its oil output due to maintenance and protests. Outages come from the 400,000 bpd West Qurna 2 oilfield and the 80,000 bpd Nasiriyah oil field.
The country was forced to dip into crude stocks last month, which fell by an average 79,000 b/d from January, the SOMO data showed. This includes stocks in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region.
Iraq’s undersupply meant its compliance with the OPEC+ pact stood at 146% last month, the SOMO figures showed.
OPEC+, a grouping of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies led by Russia, uses an average of secondary source production figures to determine compliance.
OPEC pumped 28.39 million bpd in February, a Reuters survey found on Tuesday, up 420,000 bpd from January and above the 254,000 bpd increase called for under the deal.
However, the 10 OPEC members are still pumping less than called for under the deal and OPEC compliance with pledged cuts was 136%, the survey found, versus 132% in January.
OPEC+ oil producers are scheduled to meet on Wednesday. The group would likely agree on another 400,000 bpd increase for April, OPEC+ sources told Reuters.
(Esta Media Network/Reuters)
