Iraq's oil exports slightly decrease in May

The Iraqi oil exports slightly decreased in May to 2.48 million barrels per day (bpd) compared with 2.62 million bpd in April, the country's oil ministry said Sunday. Iraq exported a total of 76.9 million barrels over the 31 days of May and brought in 7.47 billion U.S. dollars in revenues, with an average selling price of 97.23 dollars per barrel, the ministry said in a statement emailed to Xinhua. Iraq exported 68.1 million barrels through the southern port of Basra, and 8.8 million barrels via Turkey's port of Ceyhan on the Mediterranean Sea, the statement said. Asim Jihad, the spokesman of the ministry, attributed the decline to the bad weather at the country's southern ports, and to the acts of sabotage that targeted the oil pipeline from the northern province of Kirkuk to Turkey's port of Ceyhan, according to the statement. Iraq's economy depends on oil revenues for nearly 95 percent of its budget. In 2010, Iraq announced its proven oil reserves had increased to 143.1 billion barrels from the previous estimation of 115 billion barrels.