Iraqi authorities anticipate oil production to recover to peacetime levels within one to two months, following a sharp decline in exports amid the recent conflict in the Middle East, according to Al-Arabiya.
The spokesman for Iraqi Oil Ministry, Salim Farhoud, told the state-run Iraq News Agency (INA) late on Friday that production could “return to previous levels within one to two months.”
Farhoud noted that fields that had previously decreased output have now begun to intensify production capacity again.
On February 28, the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran, targeting its leadership and triggering a new conflict in the Middle East.
Iran has been responding with a retaliatory counterattack in Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi, while launching barrages of missiles and drones toward Israel.
The conflict spread across the Middle East, leaving thousands dead and triggering unprecedented disruptions to energy supplies especially after the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
Before the outbreak of the war, Iraq’s oil exports reached to nearly 3.5 million barrels per day, with the majority of shipments passed through the Strait of Hormuz.
As an OPEC founding member, Iraq had to suspend production at most of its oil fields after storage tanks reached capacity, limiting exports to alternative routes through neighboring Türkiye and Syria.
On Wednesday, Iran and the United States signed an agreement to end the conflict, offering some relief and reopening the Strait of Hormuz, even as follow-up negotiations have since stalled.
Iraqi Oil Minister Bassem Khodeir told INA on Friday that exports would “return gradually based on the smooth flow through the Strait of Hormuz.”
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