Iraq Crude Exports Surge in South While Violence Hits North
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Crude oil exports from Iraq’s southern terminals in the Persian Gulf are poised to accelerate even as fighting plunges the country’s north into chaos and Islamist militias encroach on towns near Baghdad.
Exports of Basrah Light crude, the country’s main grade, may reach about 2.8 million barrels a day next month, according to a preliminary loading plan obtained by Bloomberg News on June 16. That’s 11 percent more than this year’s average and would come close to matching a three-decade high reached in February. OPEC’s second-largest producer shipped 5.43 million barrels from Basrah on June 11, Iraqi Oil Minister Abdul Kareem al-Luaibi said in Vienna the following day.