Oil exports to U.S. from Iraq soar 30.5% in first half of 2023: Report

Iraq trails only Saudi Arabia as the largest producer of oil in OPEC.
IraqKurdsOil

Through the first five months of 2023, Iraq’s oil exports to the United States jumped by 30.5%, according to Shafaq news site, citing data from the US Energy Information Administration.

The Iraqi outlet said that from January to May, the U.S. received a total of 55.4 million oil barrels from the country, a 30.5% increase from 38.4 million barrels from that same period last year, and a whopping 61% increase from that timeframe in 2021.

Data from the EIA shows America exceeded double-digit imports from Iraq each of the first five months of 2023, which hasn’t happened since 2018, when the five-month average was over 20,800 barrels per month. Since then, imports from Iraq are down nearly 47% and averaged just over 11,000 barrels per month in the aforementioned period.

Oil is a major contributor to Iraq's economy. Crude exports represented 92% of total government revenue in 2019.

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