Iraq oil production down, capacity up

WASHINGTON, Oct. 30 (UPI) -- A U.S. review of Iraq reconstruction finds Iraq oil production down compared with this time last year, though capacity is up.

Electricity production has hit record wartime levels, but both sectors need to work together and both must combat insurgent attacks, according to the Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction’s quarterly report, released Tuesday.

Iraq oil production averaged 2.16 million barrels per day in third-quarter 2007, as the northern pipeline was fixed and better guarded than before.

“It is important to note, however, that this quarter’s production lags slightly behind the same period last year,” the report said. It also pegged production capacity at 3 million bpd.

And there is poor coordination between the Oil and Electricity ministries, which rely on each other to function properly and give Iraqis some of their most basic needs.

“The circular dilemma of fuel demand at power plants and power shortages at oil facilities remains a major challenge for the electricity and oil sectors,” the report said. Iraqis have access to neither the power nor the fuel supply they need; the power plants aren’t getting their needed fuel and the oil refineries their electricity.

Electricity production did average 4,550 megawatts per day in third-quarter 2007, its highest since the war began. Power capacity hit 5,530 megawatts on Sept. 11, a peak, and averaged 5,200 megawatts a day from early August through September, the report said, adding it supplied 60 percent of Iraqis’ demand on Sept. 16.

Production may dip as the ministry tackles scheduled maintenance, though it is looking to redirect fuel to other power plants in order to produce electricity.

The report noted an increase in household appliances has bolstered demand while U.S. reconstruction efforts, done in isolation of the status of Iraq’s electricity sector and its problems, have hurt the sector by stocking plants with too many generators of differing make, capacity and technology.

Also, some provinces are producing more power than they consume but aren’t sharing, as the ministry attempts to set caps and ration production. In a snapshot of the power sector on Oct. 9, all but four of Iraq’s 18 provinces used more power than allocated.

A major challenge the report noted for both sectors was how the infrastructure remains a target for insurgents and looters.

Eight regional 400 kilovolt transmission lines were out of service this month because of attacks on the grid and towers. The northern oil pipeline, which accounts for the uptick in oil production, has barely functioned since 2003 because of attacks, and has been hit numerous times in the past three months.

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Ben Lando, UPI Energy Editor

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(e-mail: blando@upi.com)