Rough Weather Hits Basrah Exports

摘要

Iraqi crude exports have fallen by 1 million b/d since Saturday due to rough weather in the Gulf of Basrah, according to state oil marketer Somo, highlighting once again the fragile state of the country’s export facilities. Shipments of Basrah crude from southern Iraq dropped to a rate of 2.4 million b/d on Sunday, a senior Somo official told Energy Intelligence, adding that loadings were slowly recovering but remained well below their target of 3.4 million b/d. Some shipping reports early on Monday indicated that Basrah exports had in fact halved to just 1.7 million b/d. Aging export infrastructure represents a growing problem for Opec’s second-largest oil producer, which relies on oil sales for more than 90% of its income. Earlier this year, a tanker damaged one of Iraq’s four operational single point moorings (SPMs), where around half of Iraq’s Basrah exports - or at least 40% of its total crude exports - are loaded from.