Iraq oil output back to old level
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Iraq's oil revenue this year could reach $16 billion, officials say.
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BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraq's oil production has reached 2.53 million barrels per day, the highest output since the war began last March, a senior Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) official says.
Between 1.7 million and 1.8 million barrels per day are ready for export, more than the targets set by the CPA at the end of the war, the official told reporters Sunday.
The country's oil reserves are the world's second-largest.
Pre-war the production was estimated to have been between 2.3 and 2.6 million barrels per day.
Three-quarters of the oil is being produced in the south, and the rest in the north, an imbalance the official blamed in part on sabotage of a pipeline running north to Turkey.
Since last June, when production resumed after the war, the country has earned $5.079 billion from its oil sales, he said.
Oil revenue for 2004 will be between $14 billion and $16 billion, he predicted.
But that's not going to be enough to pay for the modernization of the country's oil industry and provide funds for other aspects of Iraq economy, he said.
The number of successful attacks on Iraq's oil infrastructure has dropped from 47 per month in the last quarter of 2003 to four per month in January and February, he said, crediting better protection of facilities by an army of 14,000 private security guards.
Erinys, the security company, is under the command of U.S. forces, but is to be handed over to the oil ministry in the northern summer.
Immediately after the fall of President Saddam Hussein nearly a year ago, the country's oil facilities were looted and sabotaged.
Since then, about $2 billion has been spent -- most of it from the United States -- repairing pipelines and beefing up security as refineries have been put back on line, the official said. Another $2 billion is expected to be spent this year, he added.
Paul Bremer, the chief U.S. civilian administrator, is expected to hand power -- including control of the nation's oil facilities -- to an Iraqi government on June 30. CPA oil advisers are working to create an ethical and transparent oil ministry by then, they said.
In response to a question, the official said an Iraqi state oil company would likely be created, but said outside help would still be needed to modernize the industry's infrastructure, much of which is 30 years old.
He predicted that could take 10 to 15 years, meaning that long-term investment -- as much as $30 billion more -- is needed.
