Iraq's crude oil output capacity has jumped to a post-war record of 2.950 million barrels a day this month, the country's oil minister said Saturday. Speaking on the sidelines of a World Economic Forum meeting in the Dead Sea in Jordan, Abdul Kareem Luaiby said, however, exports remain at 2.2 million barrels a day because of ongoing limitations at the country's export facilities. Luaiby said the increase mainly come from Iraq's largest producing oil fields in the south, Rumaila, West Qurna Phase 1 and Zubair, which are being developed by BP PLC, Exxon Mobil Corp. and Eni SpA respectively. He said Rumaila's production capacity stood at 1.35 million barrels a day, Zubair producing up to 285,000 barrels a day while the West Qurna 1 is pumping some 400,000 barrels a day. He said there are 100,000 barrels a day Iraq can produce now but it hasn't had enough capacity to export them. Iraq exports some 1.8 million barrels a day from its southern Basra and Khor Al-Amayah terminals in the Gulf. That amount represents the full capacities of both terminals.
