OPEC Target Gets Harder to Reach for Iraq as Oil Exports Jump

  • Iraqi oil sales rise this month even as it seeks lower output
  • Tanker tracking data is preliminary and may change over month

Inside the Zubair oil and gas field, north of Basra. 

Photographer: Haidar Mohammed Ali/AFP/Getty Images

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Iraq’s crude oil exports jumped in the first half of February even after OPEC’s second-biggest producer pledged to cut production this month.

The group and partners including Russia are restraining supply with the coronavirus pandemic still raging. The alliance, known as OPEC+, is seeking to ensure a 66% rally in crude prices since the start of November -- driven by vaccine breakthroughs -- isn’t reversed.