Iraq's oil revenues drop by 17.6 percent in June
Source: AP-Excite
BAGHDAD (AP) - Iraq's oil revenues dropped by 17.6 percent from May to June due to plummeting prices in the international market and the diversion of some production to meet domestic needs, the government said Monday.
The decline in revenues challenges oil-reliant Iraq, since the violence-plagued country needs hundreds of billions of dollars for reconstruction after the withdrawal of the last U.S. troops late last year. Oil revenues make up about 95 percent of the fragile democratic government's budget.
Still, the country is rapidly expanding production to levels not seen since before the U.S.-led invasion, and it is expected to overtake Iran as the second-largest exporter in OPEC soon, especially as new EU sanctions took effect this week to punish Iran for its suspected nuclear weapons program.
Oil Ministry spokesman Assem Jihad said Iraq earned $6.453 billion in June, with an achieved average price of $90 per barrel. May's revenues stood at $7.831 billion with an average price of $103.039 per barrel.
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