Iraq faces a sharp decline in oil production because of a lack of investment in infrastructure at some of its largest fields in the south of the country, according to sources close to the Oil Ministry. The sources tell MEED the country's oil output could drop by up to 10 percent by December 2010 as production from state-run South Oil Company (SOC) falls by 220,000 barrels a day (b/d) as a result of a deterioration in the productivity of its wells at fields including South and North Rumaila, West Qurna and Missan. SOC suffered a 100,000 b/d fall in production in 2008. The sources say the company will suffer further 100,000-b/d drops in both 2009 and 2010. Oil exports from southern Iraq, which produces 70 per ent of the country's crude, dropped to 1.4 million b/d in the third quarter of 2008, with overall production estimated at 2.2 million b/d.
