Sharp Drop in Iraqi Kurdistan Crude Exports

Oil exports from Iraq’s Kurdistan via the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan were still flowing at sharply reduced rates on Saturday and Sunday, two shipping sources told Reuters. Flows were fluctuating at between 200,000 and 250,000 barrels per day versus normal flows of around 600,000 bpd. Exports have dropped from Wednesday last week when Iraqi military forces took over the Kirkuk area from the Kurdish Peshmerga forces, resulting in a sharp drop in output from nearby fields. Iraqi Oil Ministry officials have said they were hoping to bring output back to normal by Sunday but it had not happened yet, one of the sources said. Iraq said it was increasing oil exports last week from the southern Basra region by 200,000 barrels per day to make up for a shortfall from the northern Kirkuk fields. The output from the northern Kirkuk region fell last week in the course of military operations to take it back from Kurdish fighters who took control of the fields since 2014.