Revenue from Iraqi crude oil exports rose to $6.08 billion in January, the most in more than a year, Bloomberg reported according to the country's State Oil Marketing Organization.
The average price for Iraqi oil was $90.78 a barrel, compared with $86.31 in December and $80.59 in November, SOMO said in a statement on its website today.
Exports increased last month by about 10 percent to 67 million barrels, or about 2.16 million barrels a day, compared with 60.5 million barrels, or 1.95 million barrels a day, in December, it said.
Revenue from the southern oil center of Basra climbed to $4.88 billion, the highest since 2003, on January exports of 54 million barrels. Sales from the northern oil hub of Kirkuk, where pipelines and oil facilities are often the target of insurgent attacks, rose slightly to $1.2 million on shipments of 13 million, SOMO said.
Iraq, which generates most of its revenue from oil sales, is seeking foreign investors to help boost crude production, which has suffered from militant attacks and a lack of investment. The government has awarded 15 development contracts to international energy companies since the U.S.-led invasion that ousted the regime of Saddam Hussein in 2003.
Iraq, with the world's fifth-largest oil reserves, expects crude output to rise to more than 3 million barrels a day by the end of this year, compared with 2.4 million barrels in December.