Iraq is the second largest oil producer in OPEC, recently greatly increased the volume of production and exports, however, this trend is coming to an end.
Indeed, only since the middle of 2014, oil exports from the country rose to a new record, and the volume of production increased by almost 40%.
But for further development and to maintain the current pace of the necessary investments, and extra money in the budget of Iraq now, no.
Moreover, almost all the stores in the country are already filled to capacity, in any case, such data are cited by Bloomberg citing company Energy Aspects Ltd. and FGE. Investments in major oil fields of the country this year could fall to $7 billion, while in 2015 they amounted to $13 billion, and in 2014 – $20 billion.
However, the officials of several other plans. So, for example, a few days ago, the Deputy oil Minister Fayyad al-NIMA in an interview with journalists said that Iraq is now shipping from the port of Basra 3.3 million barrels of oil per day and plans to maintain supplies at this level until the end of the year.
The experts, as we have said, does not believe such plans are realistic, because it requires money and power.
“What will happen if Iraq does not provide a landmark production this year? If the expectation of substantial growth of deliveries from Iraq not justified, “bullish” sentiment in the market will grow”, – shared his opinion with Bloomberg, Richard Mallinson of Energy Aspects.
We will remind, in January of this year the volume of oil production in Iraq reached a record level of 4.51 million barrels. Then the figure began to decline, and in April production totaled 4.31 million barrels per day.
Do not forget that the political situation in Iraq is not the most calm in early may, the country was swept by a wave of protests.
The protesters broke into the protected “green zone” of Baghdad, where most of the government buildings, a number of protesters managed to break into the Parliament building. Hundreds of people shouting slogans, waving Iraqi flags, photographing those areas of the city, which has long denied entry.
The Prime Minister of Iraq Haider al-Abadi is trying to form a Cabinet of technocrats amid pressure from the public, unhappy with the rampant corruption in the country. However, in Parliament there was a split amid disagreements on the candidates of Ministers. A number of MPs fear losing influence.
The consequences for the oil sector is still unclear. Political unrest in the country has never carried anything good for the industry. Of course, the major Iraqi oil fields in the South of the country are far from Baghdad. And oil Minister of Iraq even noted on Facebook this weekend that the events in the “green zone” did not affect the volume of oil production in the country. However, recent protests have created uncertainty about the future of Iraq, and the situation with the “green zone” once again underscored the level of public anger against the authorities of the country.
