Bloomberg reported that Iraq boosted income from oil sales by 49% in 2008 as crude prices rose to a record in July 2008.

According to a report by the US state department, Iraq earned about USD 60.9 billion from oil sales in 2008, compared with USD 41 billion in 2007. Oil production averaged about 2.37 million barrels a day in December 2008, more than the Iraqi oil ministry’s target of 2.2 million barrels a day. Iraq’s crude output averaged 2.09 million barrels a day in 2007

Iraq, an OPEC member that’s not bound by a production quota, is seeking help from international oil companies to almost double output by 2012. Last week it announced a tender for the development of 11 oil and gas fields, including the Majnoon, West Qurna phase II and Siba in Basra.

Mr Asim Jihad, spokesman at the oil ministry, said that exports increased 3.1% to 1.815 million barrels a day, from 1.76 million barrels of oil a day the previous month. He also said that Iraq exported 404,000 barrels a day through the Turkish port of Ceyhan, 1.41 million barrels a day through the Basra terminal in the Persian Gulf, and 10,000 barrels a day by tanker to Jordan.

Iraq has ramped up its northern oil exports, the main outlet to European markets, as attacks against pipelines and security related disruptions declined. The country can export oil to Turkey through a 1.1 million barrel a day capacity pipeline and through a 480,000 barrel a day installation.

However the report also noted that revenue from exports in December 2008 fell to USD 2.03 billion from USD 2.77 billion in November 2008 as crude prices declined.

(Sourced from: Bloomberg)