Amman — OPEC's second-largest producer, Iraq, boosted its southern crude oil exports to

 a new record high of 3.583 million b/d in August, according to the latest oil ministry data. 

This is up 40,000 b/d from July, the data showed Saturday, as the producer group follows 

through on its agreement to release more barrels into the market. 

Iraqi  exports  have  been  rising  since  OPEC  and key non-OPEC allies agreed in June to 

abandon their production quotas, averaging 3.549 million b/d over the last three months. T

his is up 109,000 b/d from the first five months of 2018, the data showed. 

The  rise  in  exports f rom  Iraq's  southern terminals came despite the ongoing continuing 

suspension of loadings from the Khor al-Amaya terminal since the beginning of the year. T

he terminal was closed due to leaks at its pipelines and ongoing maintenance. However, 

shipments were helped by mostly prevailing clear weather in the northern Persian Gulf. 

Some 2.727 million b/d of Basrah Light were shipped from the terminals, along with 856,000 

b/d of Basrah Heavy crude, according to sources close to State Oil Marketing Organization. 

Seven tankers were berthed and another four were awaiting their turn, terminal status reports 

showed. These will  load approximately  7  million  barrels --  1  million barrels of Basrah Light, 

and  6  million  barrels  of  Basrah  Heavy  -- which  will  be  added  to  the September loading 

program. 

SURGING OIL EXPORTS FROM CEYHAN 
Southern exports, controlled by the federal oil ministry, combined with exports from the semi-

autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government to the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan to 

give a total of approximately 4.028 million b/d for Iraq. 

The KRG does not provide monthly export data, but sources in the region said the KRG 

loaded 445,000 b/d from Ceyhan. This is a sharp jump of 40% from around 320,000 b/d 

shipped in July. 

From the August shipments, some 370,000 b/d was pumped via the KRG's independent 

pipeline through Turkey, and the rest drawn from storage at Ceyhan. The exports were a

lso boosted by higher output at the key Taq Taq and smaller Atrush fields.