Iraq last year achieved its lowest crude oil burn since 2013, according to MEES estimates. Average crude burning in power plants averaged 134,000 b/d over January-November 2017, putting it on course for a more than 20% fall from 2016’s record 169,000 b/d (see charts).

The reduced crude burn is enabling Iraq to direct more of its produced crude oil to export markets. Federal Iraqi crude exports for 2017 averaged 3.31mn b/d, an annual record. Presuming that crude burnt is the lower-value Basra Heavy then the 35,000 b/d of crude ‘saved’ by lower burning in 2017 equates to $610mn of additional export revenue. Basrah Heavy traded around $4/B lower than Basrah Light in 2017, which averaged $51.95/B. (CONTINUED - 1234 WORDS)