Data from Iraq’s State Organization for Marketing of Oil (SOMO) indicates a measurable increase in June crude exports from both the Basra and Ceyhan terminals, driven by Basra exports tripling from May levels to reach approximately 870,000 barrels per day.

Following the outbreak of military conflict between the United States and Iran and the subsequent closure of the Strait of Hormuz, Iraqi oil exports suffered a severe contraction, falling significantly from the February baseline when Basra alone exported approximately 3.6 million bpd.

Furthermore, SOMO reported that Iraq’s average crude oil exports routed through Turkey’s Ceyhan terminal reached approximately 230,000 bpd during the month of June.

OPEC Data: Iraq’s Oil Output Halved Below 2M BPD 

According to official OPEC data, Iraq’s total crude oil production had reached 4.22 million bpd in February.

However, due to compounding regional instability and the shipping blockade at the Strait of Hormuz, the nation's aggregate output plummeted and remained below 2 million bpd from March through June.

Iraq Targets 7M BPD Capacity, Securing U.S. Backing 

Iraq is aggressively expanding its crude oil capacity toward a target of 7 million barrels per day while building new pipelines through Turkey and Syria to reduce its reliance on the vulnerable Strait of Hormuz.

During a diplomatic visit to Washington, Prime Minister Ali Faleh al-Zaidi secured backing from the U.S. President Donald Trump in a Tuesday meeting at the White House, drawing unprecedented American corporate investments into the country's energy sector.

Major U.S. firms like Chevron, HKN Energy, and TI Capital are now spearheading multi-billion dollar infrastructure projects to develop Iraq's upstream oil fields and alternative export corridors.

Iraq is also actively lobbying OPEC+ for a higher production quota, arguing that current limits fail to reflect its expanding 7-million-barrel capacity or the economic losses it suffered from past regional conflicts.