Iraq's
crude oil exports in December are expected to exceed the 1.91 million barrels a
day that the country exported in November, head of the State Oil Marketing
Organization, or SOMO, said Monday.
Falah Alamri told Dow Jones Newswires that oil exports in January are expected
to hit 2 million barrels a day and that they will be increased further gradually
during the rest of the year.
Alamri attributed the rise in exports to increases in production in southern
oil fields following the mega deals that Baghdad
had awarded to international oil companies over the last 12 months.
Iraq's newly appointed oil minister Abdul
Kareem Luaiby told reporters in Baghdad Monday that the country's crude oil
production has reached 2.6 million barrels a day over the last few days--the
highest level in the last two decades--thanks to international firms that are
upgrading southern oil fields.