Iraqi Kurdish oil exports increase by 60 percent in November

Erbil - Anadolu Agency

An aerial view of the city of Arbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdish region in Iraq, about 350 km (217 miles) north of Baghdad, March 19, 2013. Picture taken March 19, 2013. REUTERS/Azad Lashkari

The Kurdish Regional Government, or KRG, increased its exports to world markets through Turkey to 300,000 barrels per day, according to Kurdish official sources.

The KRG Ministry of Natural Resources announced on Nov. 7 on its website that the exported oil amount increased by 60 percent in November. Daily flow rates through the Kurdish crude pipeline to Turkey have represented an increase over the last four months, the statement said. The daily amount of exported oil in August has risen from 185,000 to nearly 300,000 in the first week of November, the ministry added.

The government's plan is to export around 400,000 barrels per day by the end of this year and increase the amount to 500,000 barrels per day by the end of the first quarter of 2015, according to the statement.

"The KRG remains on track to meet its production target of 1 million barrels per day by end 2015/early 2016. On behalf of the people of the Kurdistan Region, the KRG exercises its Constitutional rights to manage, produce, market and sell the natural resources located under its control," the government stated.

KRG has exported 34.5 million barrels of oil since January 2014. 21.5 million barrels were sold through Turkey's southern Ceyhan Port while the remaining 13 million barrels of oil has been exported through Mersin, another port in the south of Turkey.

The statement said that $2.1 billion was received in cash and $775 million in kind for product swaps from exported oil, corresponding to $2.87 billion in total.

"From the cash payments, some $400 million has been used to pay both trucking costs and as part payment to the oil producers. Hence, the net cash received by the KRG during this period is $1.7 billion," said the statement.

It was also underlined that the KRG has also received a further $500 million in prepayment from committed purchasers of crude against future deliveries of oil piped to Ceyhan.