Iraqi oil sector growing

Oil production in Iraq in 2011 rose 12 percent compared with the previous year though exports could be curtailed by a lack of infrastructure, analysis finds. In mid-January, Turkish energy company Genel Energy, listed in London, said it planned to upgrade facilities at the Tawke oil field in northern Iraq. This could boost the field capacity limit by 25,000 barrels of oil per day to 100,000 bpd by the end of the year. An analysis by the Platts news service of data from the Iraq Oil Minister concludes crude oil production in Iraq increased last year 12 percent compared with 2010 levels to 2.6 million barrels per day. In general, crude oil production from Iraq has increased steadily since the U.S.-led invasion of 2003. Production rates from the south of the country, however, are limited by bottlenecks due to a lack of infrastructure. This, Platts said, forced oil companies there to hold back around 100,000 bpd. The International Energy Agency in a December report estimated crude oil production from Iraq is on pace to increase 1.87 million barrels per day from 2010-16. This means that by the end of the timeframe, Iraq will produce on average 4.36 million bpd. The December report, however, warned that political instability in Iraq is creating "bureaucratic, logistical and operational constraints" on the oil sector.