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Dubai: Iraq has yet to fully restore 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil output that has been shut in since a bomb attack on a pipeline last Thursday, an Iraqi oil official said.
"Output in the area is lower than what it should be," the official said. "I don't know when it will be restored."
Iraq had aimed to fully restore the flow on Tuesday.
A problem at a pumping station from the Bazargan oilfield in the south has caused the disruption in oil flow since Thursday, but officials have not clarified whether the decline is a result of the bomb attack.
A pipeline branch from Bazargan was severely damaged in an attack last Thursday, and the volume disrupted was equal to the volume pumped through the damaged branch.
The attack was the first to interrupt exports from the south since 2004. The main Basra oil terminal usually pumps around 1.5 million bpd.
Oil was loading onto vessels at Basra oil terminal at a rate of around 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd) on Wednesday, down from around 1.4 million bpd on Tuesday, two shipping agents said. Exports from Basra typically vary between 1.2 million bpd to 1.7 million mln bpd.
Oil from storage tanks at the terminal can help compensate for any short-term disruptions in the flow from the oilfields.
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