Iraq's Kurdish oil exports rising again: oil minister

Oil exports from Iraq's northern Kurdish region are rising again, having fallen to 50,000-55,000 barrels per day over the past two weeks, Iraqi oil minister Abdul-Kareem Luaibi said.

Luaibi, speaking to reporters at a meeting with oil companies in Amman, Jordan, said on Sunday he had been told by Kurdish officials the sharp drop was due to "technical and maintenance work" in oilfields.

He said it was not because of any dispute with the Iraqi government over payments to oil companies.

Luaibi did not reveal the current level of exports from the semi-autonomous Kurdish region, which has longstanding disputes with Iraq's central government over control of its oilfields.

Citing government sources, Reuters reported on Saturday that Kurdish crude exports had declined sharply in recent weeks to 50,000-60,000 bpd from 160,000 bpd. The sources did not know the reason for the decline.

Exports from the Kurdish region "fell in the past couple of weeks to average 50,000-55,000 bpd and after calls with our brothers in the region they explained that there was technical and maintenance work being done in two fields," Luaibi said.

"Now, two days ago, the production rose again," he said.

Iraqi Kurdistan halted exports in 2009 due to disagreements with the central government over contracts the Kurdistan Regional Government signed with foreign companies to develop its oilfields. The central government deems the contracts illegal.

The region resumed exports in February, boosting Iraq's total exports.

The Opec producer exported a total of 2.189 million bpd in August, including 461,000 bpd from northern fields.