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Aug. 2 (UPI) -- The Iraqi Oil Ministry reported total crude oil exports for July at around 3.5 million barrels per day, relatively unchanged from June. The ministry reported total exports from July brought in $7.6 billion for the Iraqi economy. Last month, the government in Baghdad said it realized a price for oil of $69.16 per barrel.
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Economists at the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries have reported steady declines in the price for Basra Light, the Iraqi benchmark for the price of oil. Basra averaged $72.83 per barrel in May and $71.90 in June.
The OPEC basket of 15 crude oil benchmarks averaged $72.10 per barrel on Wednesday, a 1 percent decline from the previous day.
Total exports from Iraq averaged 3.54 million barrels per day, relatively unchanged from June. The ministry does not include oil exported from the north, where the semiautonomous Kurdistan Regional Government sends oil by truck and through pipelines to a Turkish sea port.
May exports averaged 3.48 million barrels per day, provided Iraq exported oil every day that month.
The political situation in the country is tense in general after May elections. A parliamentary bloc led by influential Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr emerged victorious. Sadr's militia led an uprising against U.S. forces at the height of the campaign that started in the middle of the last decade.
Southern protestors, meanwhile, have complained the region's vast oil wealth hasn't trickled down. Demonstrators have tried to block key port access at Basra, though there are no indications so far production or exports are curtailed.
Iraq is the second-largest producer among members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, behind Saudi Arabia. Secondary sources reported to OPEC economists said Iraq produced 4.5 million barrels per day in June, a 1.6 percent increase from May.
Iraq has been among the least compliant with production cuts agreed to by OPEC members. The June production average was the highest in recent history.
