A view of West Qurna oilfield is seen in Basra, southeast of Baghdad. Iraq’s oil exports rose in September to an average of 2.542mn bpd from 2.375mn bpd in August, an oil ministry spokesman has said. Oil exports raised revenues of $7bn, the spokesman said. Opec member Iraq exports the bulk of its oil from its southern ports.
Shipments from the northern oilfields of Kirkuk have been shut since March 2 due to attacks on a pipeline to Turkey, keeping total exports below their potential. Iraq is facing an Islamist insurgency where Islamic State fighters have seized control of swathes of land in the north and west of the country. Iraq’s south, where the majority of the oilfields being developed by foreign firms are located, has been relatively safe and stable for the past two years.