BASRA, Iraq, April 25 (UPI) -- Iraq could remove export obstacles and enhance its position in the energy market by expanding port capacity in the south of the country, an official said.
Iraq exports more than 2 million barrels of oil per day. Southern ports can process about 1.8 million bpd and the rest heads through pipelines through the north of the country to Turkey.
The country aims to increase its export capacity to 4.5 million bpd by the end of 2012 but can't do that without reconstruction at its long-neglected and war-torn southern ports.
Dhiaa Jaafar, chairman of Iraq's South Oil Co., told The Wall Street Journal removing the southern bottleneck was key to increasing exports of oil.
"What is more important for us now than increasing crude oil output is how to load and export the oil," he said.
He noted that BP and its Iraqi partners had to cut crude production from southern oil fields because of the problems at southern ports.
Iraq could solidify its position as the No. 3 oil exporter with the upgrades and the country is expected to play a major role in meeting the world's surging energy demand.
Ann-Louise Hittle, an oil market analyst at energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie, said oil prices could skyrocket without Iraqi oil flowing freely.
"Without Iraq, with its enormous reserves and potential supply, the rest of the world is unlikely to meet projected demand in the 2020 to 2030 period," she told the Journal.
