Shafaq News- Baghdad

Iraq's oil exports have climbed back above three million barrels per day this month after falling sharply earlier in the year, Oil Minister Bassem Mohammed Khudair said on Tuesday, as Baghdad shifts its focus toward expanding refining capacity and securing new foreign partnerships.

Speaking at the opening of the 4th International Gas and Oil Exhibition in Baghdad, Khudair said the sector was passing through a decisive phase shaped by “exceptional regional and international conditions,” which “had created difficulties but also development opportunities.”

A Rebound from Crisis Lows

Khudair said exports had risen from about 200,000 barrels per day when the government took office to more than three million barrels per day in September, a recovery he credited to the ministry, its state companies, and international operators.

Iraqi crude shipments had collapsed earlier in the year after disruption to tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, the Gulf shipping channel that carries almost 90% of Iraq's oil, following the regional conflict involving Iran, Israel, and the US, and after the long shutdown of the country's northern pipeline to Turkiye.

To reduce that exposure, Khudair said Iraq had reached an agreement with Ankara to restore and expand the northern export route, giving Iraqi crude additional access to international markets.

A New Pipeline and US Agreements

The minister said Iraq was moving ahead with a consortium of Chevron and TI Capital of the United States and Qatar's UCC to build a pipeline linking the southern hub of Basra to Fishkhabur in the north, with a branch toward the Syrian port of Baniyas. “The project, he said, is intended to improve export security and give Iraq greater flexibility in reaching global markets.”

He added that a recent visit to the United States had produced agreements to develop oil fields and exploration blocks and to carry out infrastructure projects, part of a wider push to deepen ties with international companies.

Read more: Kirkuk–Baniyas Pipeline: Iraq’s direct oil lifeline to the Mediterranean

A Shift Toward Refining

Khudair said the government's aim was no longer confined to raising crude output and exports but had shifted toward expanding refining capacity, sustaining production, meeting domestic demand, and cutting reliance on imported fuel. Refining, he said, would be a priority in the next stage.

As part of that effort, Khudair said the ministry had persuaded Japan's JGC Corporation to return to Iraq after intensive negotiations and resume work on a fluid catalytic cracking unit at southern refineries.

No Repeat Of Fuel Shortages

At the emergency meeting, attended by ministry deputies, advisers and heads of state oil companies, Khudair urged managers to maintain stable gasoline supplies and prevent a repeat of previous shortages, calling for closer monitoring of consumption and actual demand.

Addressing companies at the Baghdad conference, Khudair said Iraq offered opportunities in exploration, production, gas, refining, infrastructure and oilfield services, adding that the ministry sought genuine partnerships that served mutual interests while protecting Iraq's resources.

Read more: Iraq's oil lifeline is blocked: Here is why the crisis runs deeper than Hormuz