Oil exports rise from southern Iraq

in a sign of progress in the implementation of the plan that aims to achieve significant growth in supply .

But buyers of Iraqi crude have said that although the increase in exports, Iraq is still trying to catch up in the partly shipping delay due to bad weather .

Some buyers said that the Iraqi Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO ) has reduced the quantities of crude allocated to them for February .

The averages of oil exports from Iraq’s southern ports have reached 2.35 million bpd in the first fifteen days of this month, according to data from the shipping company and the estimates of the monitor movements of tankers.

If export continue at this rate of export in the remaining days of the month, the volume of exports will reach its highest level since at least 2003 and overall , the southern ports traded all Iraq's oil exports .

Which is a return to significant growth of exports after a slowdown in 2013 in the wake of possible acts by Iraq to expand the capacity of its south ports?

In a sign that perhaps not everything is running smoothly so far, some buyers for Basra Light crude said that what is being exported from southern Iraq this week expect a reduction in the volumes allocated to them in February.

One of the buyers said that, “They have huge delays and they were forced to reduce the number of shipments from eight to ten shipments (for January-February) . "

Iraq exports also about 300 thousand bpd from Kirkuk oilfields in the north of the country to the Turkish port of Ceyhan . Those exports may raise if Kurdistan Region starts selling oil through the pipeline to Turkey .

The Kurdish plan has raised Baghdad anger , as Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki threatened last Sunday that the central government would cut funding for Kurdistan if the Kurds went ahead with the exports of oil without the approval of Baghdad .