Iraq's oil exports from its southern fields averaged 3.215 million barrels per day (bpd) in December, down from a record high in November but up from a year earlier, the oil ministry said on Friday. Exports fell from 3.365 million bpd in November as bad weather complicated loadings, ministry spokesman Asim Jihad said. A year earlier, Iraq's southern December exports averaged 2.76 million bpd. For a third consecutive month, Baghdad exported no oil via its northern pipeline to Ceyhan in Turkey.

The semi-autonomous Kurdistan region in the north has ramped up its own, independent oil sales via Ceyhan since mid-June while cutting allocations to Iraq's State Oil Marketing Organisation (SOMO) in an escalating dispute over export rights and budget payments. December revenue totalled $2.973 billion, with 99.658 million barrels sold at around $29.84 per barrel, Jihad said.

A year ago Iraqi oil was selling for $57 a barrel. The fall in oil prices since has reduced revenue and strained major Opec producer Iraq's budget as it fights an insurgency by Islamic State militants who control swathes of territory in its north and west. Iraqi officials said November's record exports were unusually high as they included some tankers delayed from the previous month.

In addition to weather-related delays, a few days of maintenance on Iraq's Single Point Moorings, terminals that handle almost half of Iraq's southern exports, could have slowed December shipments. Iraqi officials and oil analysts expect growth in exports this year, but at a slower rate than in 2015.

Copyright Reuters, 2016