Azerbaijan, Baku, May 3 / Trend A. Taghiyeva /
Iraq increased oil exports to 2.508 million bpd in April 2012. This was the highest figure since 1989, Iraqi Oil Ministry representative Asym Jihad told Trend on Thursday.
Iraq exported 75.2 million barrels of oil in March. The country's income from exports totalled $ 8.8 billion. The average oil price in March was $118 per barrel, Jihad said. He added that the export growth is expected to continue in May.
About 63.4 million barrels of the total export volume fell to the city of Basra, which is 2.1 million barrels per day. Export volume of 11.7 million barrels fall to Kirkuk, which is 393,000 barrels a day.
According to BP, Iraq's proven oil reserves as of early 2011 amounted to 115 billion barrels. The country ranks third in OPEC after Saudi Arabia and Iran.
The major oil fields of Iraq are Rumaila, Zubair, Nahr Umr, Majnoon and West Qurna are in the south of the country. About 80 per cent of oil extracted in Iraq, is exported.