Shafaq News- Baghdad

Iraq’s crude exports averaged 329,000 barrels per day in May, unchanged from April and far below pre-crisis levels, with shipments through the Kurdistan-Ceyhan pipeline offsetting only part of the disruption to Gulf exports, economist Nabil Al-Marsoumi said on Friday.

Al-Marsoumi explained that 233,000 bpd moved through the Kurdistan-Ceyhan pipeline to Turkiye’s Ceyhan port, including about 20,000 bpd from Kurdistan Region fields, while the remaining volumes came from Kirkuk, northern fields, and central fields blended with Kirkuk crude. Shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, meanwhile, averaged 96,000 bpd, bringing Iraq’s total May exports to 329,000 bpd, the same level recorded in April.

He estimated May oil revenues at about $1 billion.

The Strait of Hormuz has remained largely restricted since February 28 following the US-Israel war on Iran, limiting regional energy flows and forcing Gulf producers, including Iraq, to scale back shipments. Oil Minister Bassem Mohammed Khudair previously warned that Iraq’s export capacity had suffered severe damage because of the closure, explaining that monthly shipments fell from their normal level of about 93 million barrels before the crisis to around 10 million barrels in April after maritime navigation was disrupted.

Before the crisis, Iraq routed roughly 95% of its oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz, according to Oil Ministry figures.

Bloomberg vessel-tracking data showed that Iraq’s seaborne exports fell to 131,000 bpd in April, a 96% drop from April 2025. The same data showed that Basra, which handles up to 80 tankers per month under normal conditions, loaded only two vessels in April, down from 12 in March.

China’s imports of Iraqi crude fell to 60,000 bpd in May from 790,000 bpd in February, according to Reuters. US Energy Information Administration data also showed Iraq’s crude exports to the United States fell by nearly half in March, despite Iraqi output remaining above 4 million bpd.

In March, Al-Marsoumi told Shafaq News that about 94% of Iraq’s oil exports pass through southern Gulf terminals and warned that a prolonged disruption could cut monthly oil revenue from about $7 billion to less than $1 billion. He explained at the time that alternative routes could carry only limited volumes, including around 210,000 bpd through Ceyhan and small quantities transported by truck to Jordan.

: Iraq's oil lifeline is blocked: Here is why the crisis runs deeper than Hormuz