Iraq: Amid Conflict with ISIS, Iraq Pumps Oil Like There's No Tomorrow
Dec 3, 2014
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Robert Winderm, NBC News
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espite its war with ISIS, Iraq is pumping oil at a pace not seen in nearly 40 years, and the spigot will be opened still wider by a deal reached Tuesday between Baghdad and the Kurds, energy experts and U.S. officials say.
"They've been able to ramp it up quite impressively, despite ISIS," oil trader John Kilduff said of the Iraqis' oil production, which hit 3.4 million barrels a day in November. That level, which earned Baghdad $5.2 billion, was 100,000 barrels higher than the previous month and meant that Iraq is now pumping more oil than any OPEC member other than Saudi Arabia.Tuesday's deal between the central government and the Kurdish regional government in Erbil will increase production, raising more money to fight ISIS and adding downward pressure on global oil prices, already are at their lowest levels in years, according to Kilduff and other experts.