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Baghdad: 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.
Hussain 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 two 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."
Volume
Iraqi oilfields are pumping more than 2.5 million bpd, he said, the highest since the 2003 US-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 and 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.
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