Azerbaijan, Baku, Jan. 16 / Trend A. Taghiyeva /
Iraq plans to increase oil storage capacity by increasing capacity at oil storage facilities in the southern regions of the country, Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper said on Wednesday.
The country plans to increase oil storage capacity in the southern region to 8.5 million barrels, compared to the current 5.5 million barrels. Thus, Iraq has commissioned four new storage tanks since early 2013 and the number will continue to increase in the future.
According to the newspaper, increasing the capacity of these oil storage facilities is very important for Iraq, as oil production and export have sharply declined due to bad weather conditions. Iraq will be able to maintain stable exports due to an increasing oil storage capacity.
According to BP, proven oil reserves in Iraq at the end of 2011 amounted to 143.1 billion barrels, which ranked the country 3rd in OPEC after Saudi Arabia and Iran. Oil production in Iraq at the end of 2011 was 2.798 million barrels per day.
In November 2013, 2.6 million barrels of oil per day were exported from Iraq.
The main oil fields in Iraq are Rumeyla, Zubair, Nahr Umr, Majnoon and West Qurna and are located in the south. 80% of the oil produced in Iraq is exported.