Iraq’s oil exports averaged more than 3. 4 million barrels per day in October, bringing shipments close to the roughly 3. 5 million barrels a day exported before the regional war disrupted traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. Oil Minister Bassem Mohammed Khudair said the increase followed a recovery from about 3 million barrels a day in September.
Iraq is now using three export routes: the Strait of Hormuz, the pipeline to Turkey’s Ceyhan port and tanker trucks traveling through Syria. About 250,000 barrels a day moved through Ceyhan in September, while the first Iraqi crude trucks were expected to reach a Mediterranean port through Syria by mid-October. Most Iraqi crude continues to leave southern terminals near Basra and pass through Hormuz.
Baghdad has also altered how it handles shipping risk. Buyers previously collected Iraqi cargoes at Basra under free-on-board terms and assumed the danger and cost of transit. With war-risk premiums rising, Iraq’s state-owned tanker company carried a 2-million-barrel cargo through Hormuz on a very large crude carrier, marking the first such state-managed movement in decades.
The export recovery follows a sharp wartime decline. Crude sold through the reopened channels has also faced discounts of roughly 10% to 20% to offset buyers’ shipping and security costs.
Iraq and Turkey separately agreed on a one-year arrangement to raise exports through the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline to at least 750,000 barrels a day. The pipeline had been largely idle since 2023 because of legal and commercial disputes, but limited flows resumed before the new agreement. Baghdad is also pursuing longer-term pipeline links toward Turkey and Syria, while Iraq’s government has directed officials to increase production capacity and oil revenue as the conflict continues.