Outages of its export pipeline to Turkey and the withholding of crude from Kirkuk mean exports of crude from Iraqi Kurdistan fell by 23,000 b/d in March. Sales volumes fell even further, but the region’s immediate cash balance was boosted by prepayments and a foreign loan.

The $557mn brought in is still far below the $800mn the government required just to pay salaries before it announced pay cuts in February (MEES, 5 February). (CONTINUED - 769 WORDS)