Iraq’s oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz, a major stake in the Middle East conflict, were almost divided by ten in April compared to pre-war months, announced the country’s new oil minister on 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, due to the war,” Bassem Mohammed Khudair stated during his inauguration following the formation of a new government on Thursday.
As a founding member of the OPEC oil exporting countries alliance, Iraq normally exports most of its crude oil through this passage, which has been almost completely blocked by Iran since the beginning of the American-Israeli offensive against the Islamic Republic on February 28. However, Baghdad announced last month that it had reached an agreement with the United States and Iran to reduce the impact of the blockade on its oil exports through the strait. Two oil tankers even docked at terminals in the southern province of Basra in April.
90% of the state’s budget revenues
Iraq used to export around 3.5 million barrels per day, with this activity accounting for 90% of the state’s budget revenues. It has dispatched a fleet of tank trucks to Syria to continue its exports, but the volumes are much lower than those allowed through the maritime route. An oil pipeline with a capacity of 250,000 barrels per day also links 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 one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports used to transit before the war.
