Iraq cuts October crude supplies to term buyers

Iraq will supply crude to two Asian term buyers at between 5 percent and 10 per cent below contracted volumes for October, compared with near full volumes for September, traders said on Monday.

Iraq's oil exports slipped slightly to 1.816 million barrels per day (bpd) in July from 1.823 million bpd the month before, Oil Ministry spokesman Asim Jihad told Reuters last month.

Iraq exported an average of 1.432 million bpd from the southern oil hub of Basra and 383,000 bpd from the northern oilfields around Kirkuk, including 10,000 bpd by trucks to Jordan, he said.

The average selling price was about $71.12 per barrel, he said.

Exports from Basra, Iraq's main oil-exporting hub, can fluctuate widely due to weather conditions or technical problems, while repeated bomb attacks hampered crude flow from Kirkuk fields in recent months.

On Sunday, Iraq resumed crude flow through its northern Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline, which carries a quarter of Iraq's oil exports, after a halt of less than a day, due to technical problems.

The Opec member has signed deals with global oil companies that could boost its output capacity to 12 million bpd in six to seven years' time from 2.5 million bpd now, potentially rivalling top producer Saudi Arabia.