WSJ:UPDATE: Iraq Oct Oil Exports Down 0.6% On Month At 2.088M B/D - SOMO
By Hassan Hafidh
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
Iraq's oil exports in October ran at an average of 2.088 million barrels a day, or 0.6% below the rate of September because of bad weather at the southern export terminals, the head of the State Oil Marketing Organization, or SOMO, said Tuesday.
"We have had six days so far of bad weather in the southern terminals which has completely shut down our exports for a few days," Falah Alamri told Dow Jones Newswires.
A Middle East shipping agent said earlier thunder storms at two Iraqi oil loading terminals in Basra since Oct. 26 had either impeded loadings from the ports completely or slowed them.
Revenues from oil sales in October were up to around $6.7 billion from $6.6 billion in September, Alamri said.
Iraq sold its crude oil in October at an average price of around $104 a barrel, more or less the same as the previous month. The increase in revenues was because more barrels were sold in October as the month is 31 days while September is 30 days.
Iraq's oil revenues reached some $69 billion during the first 10 months of this year, compared with $52.2 billion in the whole of 2010.
Basra Light crude exports flowed in October at 1.628 million barrels a day, down from 1.767 million barrels a day in September. Kirkuk crude sales in October were at 460,000 barrels a day, up from 334,000 barrels a day in the previous month, Alamri said.
