Iraq oil output, exports hit post-war high

By Ahmed Rasheed

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq has raised oil exports to a post-war high, earning billions of dollars to fund reconstruction after Baghdad cracked down on sabotage of its strategic pipelines, the oil minister said on Sunday.

In an interview with Reuters, Hussein al-Shahristani said he expects oil revenue to reach $70 billion this year if crude prices stay high and output flows remain stable.

"In May, we have exceeded for the first time 2 million barrels-per-day (bpd) as an export rate," Shahristani said.

"This is mainly because of the improved security along northern pipelines from Kirkuk (oilfields) to the Turkish border and also from increased production from our southern and northern fields."

Iraqi oilfields are pumping more than 2.5 million bpd, he said, the highest since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. Iraq will produce up to 2.9 million bpd by the end of 2008, he said.

Shahristani declined to comment on export levels for June, but Iraqi oil officials said last month shipments would run slightly higher because of extra Kirkuk sales from the north.

He was optimistic Iraqi forces would keep security tight at oil facilities and raise the confidence of foreign investors discouraged by sectarian violence, al Qaeda and Shi'ite militants who had a grip on Basra, home to Iraq's biggest oilfields.

"We are going to make steady progress on security and the reconstruction front," he said.