LONDON – Iraq's oil exports are expected to rise to their highest in decades this month and production is on course to more than double by 2020, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in its Iraq Energy Outlook published Tuesday. Iraq's oil production would reach 6.1 million barrels per day (bpd) by the end of this decade in a mid-point scenario, from current output around 3 million bpd, it said. The prediction would be half of that implied by Iraq's targets signed with foreign oil companies, and the IEA, which advises 28 industrialized countries, highlighted the risk of production rising more slowly than expected. “This report anticipates movement towards possible trajectories for oil output lower than that implied by current contracts,” the IEA said. An Iraqi oil official said oil exports were expected to rise above 2.8 million bpd this month with shipments on the rise from both the north and south of the country. Exports of 2.6 million bpd in September were already the highest in more than 30 years. “I'm quite confident that if all goes well, exports will increase to at least 2.8 million,” the official, who declined to be identified, said. Iraq's supergiant southern oilfields are set to contribute about 2.4 million bpd of Basra crude to the export total while the northern oilfields are due to crank out around 450,000 bpd of Kirkuk, he said. Crude oil exports from Kirkuk in the north have risen after Iraq's central government and the autonomous Kurdistan region agreed last month to end an oil payment dispute after the northern region pledged to continue exports. Oil exports from Kurdistan have already risen to 170,000 bpd and will soon reach 200,000 bpd following the deal. IEA warned delays to investment in Iraq could tighten the global market in coming decades. – Reuters
