Iraq may hit pre-war export levels

Published November 13, 2005

NEW YORK, Nov 12: Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Chalabi said on Friday the Opec member could return its oil exports to pre-war levels by mid 2006.

“I expect we can do it by the middle of next year. We can increase by 500,000 barrels quickly if we de-cap the capped oil wells,” Chalabi, the head of the Iraq’s Energy Council, told Reuters following a conference in New York.

He said in Basra alone 200,000 barrels per day of production could be easily de-capped.

Soon after the US-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003, Kuwaiti and US fire-fighters capped some oil wells that had caught fire.

Before the war, Iraq exported about 2.2 million barrels of crude oil a day.

Looters siphoning oil to sell on the black market and insurgents attacking key pipelines have since curtailed exports.—Reuters

Opinion

Editorial

Judiciary’s SOS
Updated 28 Mar, 2024

Judiciary’s SOS

The ball is now in CJP Isa’s court, and he will feel pressure to take action.
Data protection
28 Mar, 2024

Data protection

WHAT do we want? Data protection laws. When do we want them? Immediately. Without delay, if we are to prevent ...
Selling humans
28 Mar, 2024

Selling humans

HUMAN traders feed off economic distress; they peddle promises of a better life to the impoverished who, mired in...
New terror wave
Updated 27 Mar, 2024

New terror wave

The time has come for decisive government action against militancy.
Development costs
27 Mar, 2024

Development costs

A HEFTY escalation of 30pc in the cost of ongoing federal development schemes is one of the many decisions where the...
Aitchison controversy
Updated 27 Mar, 2024

Aitchison controversy

It is hoped that higher authorities realise that politics and nepotism have no place in schools.