Earlier in the week we discussed how lower Saudi export loadings in April are translating into lower arrivals on U.S. shores this month. This has prompted some to ask whether Iraq has stepped up to fill this supply gap. Although we have seen Iraqi barrels ramping up to the U.S. so far this year, averaging over 600,000 barrels per day through the first five months, deliveries have eased lower since April’s peak. This easing has less to do with Iraq cutting exports – they aren’t – and more to do with crude heading elsewhere. (Click to enlarge) Iraqi Oil Minister Jabar al-Luaibi said late last week that exports out of Basrah are at 3.27 million barrels per day this month, and at 520,000 bpd for the Kurdish region in the north. This mirrors what we see in our data (in fact, Basrah loadings have even ticked a little higher […]