Azerbaijan, Baku, Feb.13 / Trend, A.Tagiyeva /
Iraq is to open a new port for shipping oil produced in the outskirts of Baghdad from Basra through the Persian Gulf. It will allow for exports of about 300,000 barrels of oil per day, Iraqi Oil Ministry representative Asym Jihad told Trend.
The port will launch its operation in March and after commissioning, the export potential of Iraq's southern regions will reach 1.9 million barrels of oil per day which will take the total amount of foreign supplies of Iraqi oil up to 2.3 million barrels per day. This is a record figure for the country since 2003.
According to Mr Jihad, this means that Iraqi oil exports will amount to 2.6 million barrels per day in May.
According to BP, proven oil reserves in Iraq amounted to 115 billion barrels as of early 2011 which puts the country into third place after Saudi Arabia and Iran.
The major oil fields of Iraq are Rumaila, Zubair, Nahr Umr, Majnoon and West Qurna in the south of the country. Some 80 per cent of oil produced in the country is exported. Iraq supplies oil to Jordan, Turkey and Syria.