Iraq Sept Oil Exports from Southern Ports rise slightly

Iraq's oil exports from the southern ports rose to an average of 3.245 million barrels per day (bpd) in September, from 3.230 million in August, the oil ministry said on Saturday.

OPEC's second-largest producer also exported 935,270 barrels - an average of 31,176 bpd - via pipeline to the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan in September, the first full month for exports since the North Oil Company resumed pumping crude from fields it operates in Kirkuk, which the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) controls.

That brought total exports for the month from fields operated by Baghdad and sold by Iraq's State Oil Marketing Company (SOMO) to an average of 3.276 million barrels, the ministry said in a statement.

Oil major BP said last month it would load Iraqi Kirkuk oil at the end of September, the first on behalf of SOMO since mid-2015. The KRG had since been handling Kirkuk exports until flows were stopped by Baghdad in March.

North Oil resumed pumping at a reduced rate via the pipeline to Turkey in August following a five-month halt but those initial sales were made by the Kurdish marketer, not SOMO, and were not mentioned in last month's oil ministry statement.

Baghdad and Erbil have agreed to split 50/50 revenues of Kirkuk flows, usually amounting to 150,000 bpd, at least until the end of the year.

Besides Kirkuk, Kurdistan produces around 500,000 bpd from its own fields and those will still be marketed independently by the semi-autonomous region.

Iraq made $3.82 billion in revenue from oil exports in September, selling the barrel at an average price of $38.89, the ministry said. (Reporting by Aref Mohammed in Basra and Stephen Kalin in Baghdad; Editing by Robin Pomeroy and Alexander Smith)