8/11/2012
BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: Iraq's crude output rose above 3 million barrels a day last month for the first time since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein, according to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). Iraq pumped 3.08 million barrels a day in July, 115,000 barrels more than the previous month, OPEC's Vienna-based secretariat said Friday in its Monthly Oil Market Report. Iraq for a second month outpaced Iran, whose output dropped by 173,000 barrels to 2.82 million.
Iraq last produced more than 3 million barrels in February 2002, OPEC said after revising its April estimate. The reduction from Iran came as full sanctions by the EU started July 1, which led to the third monthly decline in the group's output. OPEC, which supplies 40 percent of the world's oil, produced 31.2 million barrels a day last month, versus 31.35 million in June, according to thedata.
© Aswat Aliraq 2012
