Iraq's oil production falls short of goals
Despite years of rebuilding, petroleum production continues to fall short of targets, due to insurgency vandalism, poor field management, and corruption.
from the May 7, 2007 edition
Page 2 of 3
But inspectors also found that the facility's lifeboat deployment system appeared to be incomplete. Plus, true progress at Al Basrah depends on systemic improvements elsewhere, SIGIR notes. The facility won't be able to approach its 3-million-barrel-per-day capacity until repairs are made on the leaks and patches of the 48-inch diameter sub-sea pipeline that brings Al Basrah its oil.
According to oil ministry experts, overall "the Iraqi oil infrastructure is in desperate need of upgrades and improvements," says the SIGIR assessment.
That need can be seen in the nation's production levels. In the first quarter of 2007 Iraqi crude oil production averaged 1.95 million barrels per day, according to the US Special Inspector General. That's far short of the Iraqi goal of some 2.5 million BPD.
In fact, Iraq has missed oil production targets every quarter since 2004.
Unsurprisingly, the nation's continued violence is a big reason for this shortfall. Since the US invasion there have been some 400 insurgent or terrorist attacks against pipelines, pumping stations, oil fields, and other parts of Iraq's oil infrastructure, according to the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank.
But security isn't the only problem. Mismanagement of oil reservoirs, inadequate maintenance of pumps and pipes, and shortage of storage facilities at offshore loading terminals in the Gulf has hampered production as well, according to a recent report on Iraq's oil sector by Amy Myers Jaffe, an energy expert at Rice University's James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy.
Nor has Iraq brought any new oil fields on-line since 2003. "The main reason for this lack of investment has not been lack of funds, but rather the politicization of the oil ministry, the absence and/or exodus of trained personnel, and poor or corrupt management in the oil sector," writes Ms. Jaffe.
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