Iraq Pumping at Record Levels

Iraq is pumping crude at record levels and the violent street protests that engulfed the oil-rich south have not affected energy facilities in OPEC’s No. 2 producer. The country’s crude exports reached a record of 3.59 million barrels per day, Oil Minister Jabbar al-Luaibi said after a meeting with representatives of foreign oil companies working in Iraq, Bloomberg reported. "Iraq is producing crude at a level of about 4.36 million bpd, as agreed with limits set by OPEC and has a capacity to pump about 4.75 million barrels, without the semi-autonomous Kurdish region in the north,” al-Luaibi told reporters in Baghdad. “Security forces in Basra took measures to protect oilfields and foreign employees. Our message to oil majors is that Iraq is safe.” Iraq boosted protection in the south after protesters demanding jobs and basic services torched government buildings and the Iranian Consulate in the southern city of Basra. Eni Chief Executive Officer Claudio Descalzi and al-Luaibi discussed an additional increase in the production of Zubair Oilfield in southern Iraq.