Iraq has restarted production at some of its most important oil fields, including West Qurna 1, Majnoon and Fauqi, lifting national output back to roughly 1.5-1.6 million barrels per day after the collapse triggered by the Hormuz crisis, according to IraqiNews.
Iraq has spent the past three months confronting a dangerous economic oil dependency caused by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, and the rebound still keeps Iraq far below the more than 4 million bpd Iraq was producing before the regional war disrupted Gulf shipping routes and forced widespread production shut-ins.
More than 90% of Iraq’s oil exports traditionally move through the Persian Gulf, making the country especially vulnerable to Hormuz disruptions. Exports that averaged more than 3.3 million bpd before the conflict, collapsed to a fraction of that level, triggering a sharp decline in government revenues and forcing Baghdad to prioritize domestic energy security over export volumes.
While production gradually returns at southern fields, Baghdad is simultaneously racing to build alternative export routes that bypass the Gulf altogether. This week, the Iraqi cabinet approved plans to expand exports through the Iraq-Turkey pipeline to the Mediterranean port of Ceyhan from roughly 220,000 bpd today to as much as 770,000 bpd within two and a half months.
Officials are also examining additional export corridors through Syria and Jordan while discussions continue over longer-term infrastructure linking southern production centers to northern pipeline systems.
Iraq’s seaborne crude exports collapsed by more than 97% in May, falling to just 96,000 bpd compared to 3.32 million bpd during the same month last year. The decline was even more dramatic considering that Iraq entered 2026 exporting more than 3.3 million bpd in both January and February before flows plunged as the Hormuz crisis intensified. Oil revenues reportedly fell by roughly $5 billion from pre-war levels, delivering a major shock to a government that relies on oil for about 90% of its budget. Production also dropped from 4.18 million bpd in February to 1.67 million bpd by April, IraqiNews reported on Wednesday.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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