Iraq leads upstream growth

摘要

New production sources in Iraq will boost Opec capacity over the next two years. Opec had over 6mn b/d of spare capacity at the end of last year (see table). Saudi Arabia held 4mn b/d of this (see below). Riyadh has no plans to increase capacity in the near its 1.5mn-2mn b/d spare capacity target Iraq is at the forefront of Opec's projected capacity rise. Foreign companies have pledged to increase capacity by a combined 9.4mn b/d to around 12mn b/d at 12 fields by 2017, although infrastructure and export constraints make 7mn b/d a more likely target. Capacity at the Rumaila, Zubair and West Qurna 1 fields rose by a combined 300,000 b/d by the end of last year, taking Iraqi capacity to a 20-year high of 2.7mn b/d (AGM, 17 January, p5).