Iraq increases its oil exports via Türkiye to 500,000 barrels per day
Iraq increases its oil exports via Türkiye to 500,000 barrels per day
2026-11-03
Shafaq News – Baghdad
The energy news website Oilprice.com reported that Iraq has increased its oil exports through the Turkish port of Ceyhan to 500,000 barrels per day, in a move aimed at strengthening crude oil export outlets away from the Strait of Hormuz.
The website reported, in a report translated by Shafaq News Agency, that Iraq has begun transporting Basra crude by truck to the pipeline system in the north of the country. Currently, about 200,000 barrels per day of Basra oil are being exported via the Ceyhan port, after being transported from the southern fields to the collection stations in Saralo and Khurmala, and then pumped towards the Turkish port.
The report indicated that Iraq has moved towards increasing its reliance on alternative export routes, following the outbreak of war with Iran and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz since March 2016, and the resulting major disruptions to oil production and exports from the Gulf region.
He added that crude oil production from southern Iraqi fields fell by 70% during the first weeks of the war, averaging 1.3 million barrels per day, compared to about 4.3 million barrels per day before it broke out, before recovering in recent months with increased exports via alternative routes.
The report quoted Iraqi Oil Minister Bassem Mohammed Khudair as saying last month that Iraq’s oil exports exceeded 3.4 million barrels per day during October, approaching pre-war levels.
He pointed out that Iraq is planning in the long term to restart a pipeline project that will transport crude oil to the Syrian coast on the Mediterranean Sea, with the aim of bypassing the Strait of Hormuz, but the implementation of the project may take between three and four years.
Iraq’s oil exports rose by 9.5% during October, reaching 3.35 million barrels per day, approaching pre-war levels, at a time when the most prominent Arab oil-producing countries in the Gulf recorded an overall increase in their shipments, which contributed to strengthening global supplies and reducing pressure on prices.
According to oil tanker tracking data compiled by Bloomberg and energy market analysis firms, exports from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Iraq and Kuwait rose by 10% to 15.53 million barrels per day in October, approaching the levels of shipments recorded at the beginning of the year, while no Iranian exports were detected for the second month in a row, amid the US naval blockade.
According to the data, this increase reflects the return of oil flows from Arab producers in the Gulf, through transport and shipping operations that followed different routes to overcome the restrictions and risks associated with navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, mechanisms that the UAE began to adopt before Saudi Arabia later adopted them.
shafaq.com
