Iraq’s oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz, a major issue in the conflict in the Middle East, were almost divided by ten in April compared to the pre-war months, the country’s new oil minister announced this Saturday, May 16. “Iraq used to export 93 million barrels per month through the Strait of Hormuz, but in April we only exported 10 million, because of the war.”declared Bassem Mohammed Khudair when he took office, following the formation of a new government on Thursday.
A founding member of the alliance of oil exporting countries OPEC, Iraq normally exports the majority of its crude oil through this passage, almost completely blocked by Iran since the start of the American-Israeli offensive against the Islamic Republic on February 28. Baghdad nevertheless announced last month that it had reached an agreement with the United States and Iran to reduce the impact of the blockade of the strait on its oil exports. And two oil tankers docked at terminals in Basra province (south) in April.
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90% of state budget revenue
Iraq previously exported some 3.5 million barrels per day, with this activity representing 90% of the state’s budgetary revenue. It has launched a series of tanker trucks to Syria to continue its exports, but the volumes are much lower than those permitted by sea. An oil pipeline with a capacity of 250,000 barrels per day also connects Iraqi Kurdistan to the Turkish port of Ceyhan on the Mediterranean.
On Friday, Iranian state television announced that the Revolutionary Guards were now allowing more ships to pass through the strait, through which a fifth of the world’s exports of oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) passed before the war.
/2023/08/21/64e385df259cf_thibaud-template-live.png "DIRECT. War in the Middle East: the Israeli army announces strikes against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, the day after the extension of the ceasefire")
