Iraq's oil exports dip in September

A worker adjusts the valve of an oil pipe at Najaf oil refinery in Najaf, 160 km (99 miles) south of Baghdad, October 3, 2013.?[Photo/Agencies]?

BAGHDAD - The average of Iraq's oil exports sharply declined in September to 2.07 million barrels per day (bpd) , the lowest level this year, the oil ministry said on Saturday.

The exports in the month dropped with an average of 500,000 bpd compared with the previous month, when the average exports was 2. 579 million bpd, spokesman Asim Jihad told reporters.

Jihad attributed the decline to the maintenance and expansion operations in the oil terminals in southern Iraq.

"We expect a significant increase in exports in October to compensate the lost oil exports in September which occurred due to the maintenance and expansion operations in the southern terminals, " Jihad said.

The new expansion, expected to be completed in October, will increase Iraq's export capacity from Basra to higher than 4.5 million bpd, Jihad added.

He said that the average oil price was 104 U.S. dollars per barrel in September.

Iraq exported 1.821 million barrels through the southern port of Basra, and 244,000 barrels were exported via Turkey's port of Ceyhan on the Mediterranean Sea, while 5,000 bpd were exported by trucks to neighboring Jordan, according to the oil ministry.

Iraq's economy mainly depends on its oil revenues, which accounts for nearly 95 percent of its budget.

In 2010, Iraq announced that its proven oil reserves had risen to 143.1 billion barrels from the previous estimation of 115 billion barrels.