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3. Iraq Exports Through Hormuz Fell to 10 Million Barrels in April: Oil Minister

Iraq's oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz plunged to just 10 million barrels in April, the country's new oil minister said Saturday.

A founding member of the OPEC oil cartel, Iraq normally exports the majority of its crude through the crucial waterway, but like other exporters in the oil-rich region, it has been left scrambling for alternative routes after Iran blockaded the strait.

"Iraq previously exported 93 million barrels per month through the Strait of Hormuz, but last April we exported only 10 million barrels due to the war," said Bassem Mohammed Khudair during a handover ceremony to assume his new post.

Iraq's southern oil terminals received in April two oil tankers to load Iraqi oil.

Last month, Baghdad said it had reached "understandings" with the United States and Iran to reduce the impact of the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, after Iran announced it would allow Iraqi shipping to transit the key waterway.

Iraq previously exported an average of 3.5 million barrels daily, accounting for some 90 percent of its budget revenues.

Due to the waterway disruption, Iraq began exporting crude using tanker trucks through Syria, after resuming a limited amount of oil exports via pipeline to the Turkish port of Ceyhan.

Iran's state television said on Friday that the naval forces of Iran's Revolutionary Guards were allowing more ships to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, which in peacetime accounts for roughly a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments.

AFP