IRAQ DATA: Federal oil exports rise 4% in April amid higher OPEC+ quota

Iraq's federal oil exports, excluding flows from the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, rose 4.2% month on month in April, oil ministry data showed May 1, amid a higher OPEC+ quota.

Total federal exports reached 3.380 million b/d in April, compared with 3.244 million b/d in March, according to ministry data. In March, federal oil exports had fallen 2.1%.

Exports from southern oil terminals stood at 3.270 million b/d in April, up 2.3% from a month earlier.

Exports of Kirkuk crude via the Turkish port of Ceyhan more than doubled to 99,702 b/d.

Iraq's OPEC+ quota rose to 4.414 million b/d in April from 4.370 million b/d in March as the group continued to relax oil output curbs.

Iraq is likely unable to increase oil exports in response to the surge in global oil prices and Russia-related supply disruptions, Deputy Prime Minister Ali Allawi said April 19 during a visit to Washington, exacerbating the ability of OPEC+ to boost its output to compensate for production shortages that have helped lift prices near record highs.

Platts Dated Brent was assessed April 29 at $108.16/b, up 2.3% on the day, according to S&P Global Commodity Insights data.

May 5 meeting

OPEC+ approved on March 31 another modest oil production increase, saying it saw no need to respond to oil disruptions from the Ukraine war being waged by Russia. The OPEC+ agreement called on the 23-country producer alliance to boost output by 432,000 b/d in May. Under the deal, quotas for some countries were amended in line with production baseline changes agreed last July for Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, the UAE and Kuwait that reflect their higher spare capacity.

OPEC+ ministers are due to meet May 5 to decide on June production levels.

OPEC+ as a group has struggled to reach its quota due to some members suffering from natural declines and supply disruptions.

Crude oil production by OPEC and its allies fell in March from February for the first time in more than a year, according to the latest Platts OPEC+ survey published by S&P Global Commodity Insights, contributing to a tightening market thrown into flux by the Russia-Ukraine war.

Western sanctions began biting into primary non-OPEC partner Russia's oil flows, and sizable disruptions in Kazakhstan and Libya also led the coalition's production lower, the survey found.

OPEC's 13 members raised output by 60,000 b/d to 28.73 million b/d, but that was more than offset by a 160,000 b/d decline by the bloc's nine allies, which pumped 13.91 million b/d.

With the net decline of 100,000 b/d, the widening gap between the OPEC+ production and quotas jumped to a record-high 1.24 million b/d -- casting further doubt on the group's ability to meet growing global oil demand, which many analysts expect to return to pre-pandemic levels in 2022.