Energy

Iraq Oil Output Rebounds to 4.399 Million Barrels a Day

Output fell sharply from March amid the regional war, hit its lowest in May, then recovered through the third quarter.

2 hours ago

ECO Iraq Observatory's logo. (Photo: the Observatory's FB page)

Iraq ECO Iraq Observatory Iraqi oil

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) - Iraq produced about 834.7 million barrels of crude oil in the first nine months of 2026, the economic monitoring center Eco Iraq said in a statement on Saturday.

According to the data, September recorded the year’s highest daily production rate, reaching 4.399 million barrels a day. Eco Iraq said that level was reached before the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

The monitor said Iraqi oil production held at its usual levels in January and February, averaging more than 4.1 million barrels a day. Output averaged 4.097 million barrels a day in January and 4.140 million in February.

Production then fell sharply from March, the statement said, coinciding with the repercussions of the war in the region. Daily output dropped to 1.906 million barrels in March and 1.633 million in April. It reached its lowest point of the period in May, at 1.406 million barrels a day, before edging up to 1.525 million in June.

A side-by-side comparison displaying an original Arabic infographic from the Eco Iraq Observatory alongside its English translation produced by Kurdistan24, illustrating Iraq's crude oil extraction statistics for the first nine months of 2026.

Eco Iraq said recovery continued through the third quarter. Average daily production rose to 2.901 million barrels in July and 3.746 million in August, before reaching 4.399 million in September. The monitor said the figures come from direct communication data in the OPEC table on which it based its analysis.

Eco Iraq has previously said the closure of the Strait of Hormuz took place on Feb. 28, 2026, and that Iraq lost around 350 million barrels of crude exports as a result. Before the closure, the monitor said, Iraq was exporting between 103 million and 107 million barrels a month.

The Iraqi Oil Ministry told Kurdistan24 in June that more than 96 percent of the country’s crude oil exports pass through the Strait of Hormuz.

Ministry spokesperson Salim Rokabi said it is impossible to forecast when Iraq’s crude exports to global markets will fully resume, as instability in the strait continues to disrupt tanker traffic despite efforts to reopen the waterway. He added that oil production and exports would return to previous levels once conditions in the region and the strait stabilize.

Ahora Qadi ,