IRAQ DATA: Oil exports were steady in April as revenue plunged on low oil price

Amman, Jordan — Iraq's oil exports in April, including oil from the semi-autonomous Kurdish region, were little changed in April while crude revenue plunged amid low oil prices, according to official data and a report on Kurdish exports seen by S&P Global Platts.

Exports reached 3.905 million b/d in April, compared with 3.881 million b/d in March, the data showed. Federal exports averaged 3.438 million b/d, up 1.4% from 3.391 million b/d in March, while Kurdish exports fell 4.7% to 467,000 b/d from 490,000 b/d in March.

The oil ministry's figures for federal exports showed that the April exports comprised 3.351 million b/d from Iraq's southern Gulf terminals, up 80,000 b/d from March; 76,000 b/d of North Oil Co. crude from Kirkuk exported via the Turkish port of Ceyhan, down 30,000 b/d from March, and 11,000 b/d of Kirkuk oil transported by truck from the hub of Baiji, up from 10,000

Exports of Qayara oil were suspended from the Khor al-Zubair port in April, with its low selling price not covering the cost of transporting it by trucks across Iraq. In March, Qayara volumes were 4,000 b/d, but they had been averaging around 30,000 b/d before protests in October 2019 disrupted production.

The exported volume from the Gulf terminals consisted of 76% Basrah Light crude oil of 29-31 API degrees quality and 24% Basrah Heavy crude of 23-24 API degrees, according to figures from state marketer SOMO.

Lower revenue

The ministry's statement also pegged provisional revenue in April at $1.423 billion, a drastic fall from March revenue of $2.962 billion. Average oil prices realized by SOMO in April were $13.80/b, compared with $28.18/b in March.

In 2019, the federal government's oil export revenue averaged $6.794 billion and the oil price averaged $61.13/b.

The Kurdish region pumped on average of about 468,400 b/d in 2019, with 93% of its oil sales exported at an average price of $52.676/b, according to a Deloitte audit report published by the Kurdistan Regional Government on its website.

Oil for local consumption and refineries was sold at $45.94/b, raking in $88.85 million, the report showed.

The government raked in $8.35 billion in crude exports, while the gross value of crude oil and condensate sold, including piped exports and local sales, was $8.44 billion, according to the report.