Key facts
- Iraq's foreign minister said the deal routes Iraqi crude through a corridor along the coast of Oman.
- The minister told Al Jazeera that war-related export disruption has cost Iraq about $60 billion.
- Iraq exported an estimated 3.4 million barrels a day in October, against 2.65 million barrels a day in September.
- Oil minister Bassem Mohammed Khudair said Iraq now exports via Hormuz, Ceyhan and tanker trucks through Syria.
- Iraq is OPEC's second-largest oil exporter after Saudi Arabia and depends almost entirely on Hormuz.
- Iraq aims to raise exports to 5 million barrels a day and is investing in pipelines and Gulf export terminals.
Iraq's crude oil exports are set to increase after the government in Baghdad struck a deal with the United States at the end of last week, Reuters reported. The deal will see Iraqi oil transported via the corridor along the coast of Oman, according to Iraq's foreign minister, who spoke with Al Jazeera.
The foreign minister also said Iraq has so far lost some $60 billion from war-related disruption to its crude oil exports. Iraq is OPEC's second-largest oil exporter after Saudi Arabia but, unlike Saudi Arabia, it is almost entirely dependent on the Strait of Hormuz to get its crude to global markets.
Iraq was among the most severely affected Gulf states after the United States and Israel launched their first strikes on Iran at the end of February. Output from the southern fields dropped 70% to 1.3 million barrels a day during the first few months of the war, as wells had to be shut in because storage tank capacity was limited and oil could not be exported through the blocked Hormuz.
Production has since recovered. Iraq exported an estimated 3.4 million barrels a day in October, almost on par with pre-war export levels of 3.3 to 3.5 million barrels a day and a solid increase from September, when exports ran at 2.65 million barrels a day.
Oil minister Bassem Mohammed Khudair said Iraq is now exporting through three routes: the Strait of Hormuz, Ceyhan, and tanker trucks through Syria. Iraq aims to raise exports to 5 million barrels a day and is investing in new pipelines and new export terminals on its Gulf coast.