General Discussion

Junkdrawer

(27,993 posts) Thu Sep 27, 2012, 08:45 PM Sep 2012

Iraq oil production surpasses Iran

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Oil production in Iraq surpassed that of its regional rival Iran last month, highlighting the impact of continued investment in Iraq and Western sanctions on Iran.

Iraqi oil production inched over the 3 million barrel a day mark in July, according to numbers released Friday by the International Energy Agency. That's 300,000 barrels per day higher than the country's average output in 2011.

IEA said much of July's increase was due to the opening of a new offshore tanker-loading facility in the Persian Gulf.

Oil production in the country has been slowly but steadily climbing since the end of the war as the Iraqi government and partners such as Exxon Mobil (XOM, Fortune 500), BP (BP), Chevron (CVX, Fortune 500) and Total (TOT) work to repair existing fields and hunt for new sources.

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Iraq has lofty plans to one day produce 11 million barrels a day -- nearly equal to Russia's current output and a million barrels a day more than Saudi Arabia's production.

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http://money.cnn.com/2012/08/10/news/economy/iraq-oil/index.html

Several points:

1.) Yes, it was about the oil. There's enough potential oil in Iraq to push Peak Oil out ten years. In fact, as Saudi oil depletes, Iraq could be the next swing producer.

2.) As Chomsky has said, the US and Iran run Iraq as a condominium. It's probably one of the big reasons Iran hasn't been bombed to date. As long as Iran doesn't stand in the way of oil production, Iran will be given considerable slack vis a vis its nuclear program. Iran wants a bomb, but isn't in any BIG hurry to get one.

3.) Meanwhile, the current swing producer, Saudi Arabia, it probably eying these developments suspiciously. The Royal Family knows that when their oil runs out, their Special Protection from the US will be, well, reviewed.