Iraq has reduced oil production by almost 1.5 million barrels per day. These cuts could increase to over 3 million bpd in a few days, as the country is running out of storage space and can't export crude oil due to the Iran Crisis.

Iraqi officials who didn't want to be identified said that as of Tuesday, production at the Rumaila field had been cut by 700,000 barrels per day, and the West Qurna 2 oil field was down by 460,000 barrels per day. Production in the Maysan oil field has also been reduced by 325,000 barrels per day.

They added that the output reduction could reach over 3?million bpd if tankers are unable to move freely across the Strait of?Hormuz in order to reach loading ports.

The sources claimed that the disruptions in exports caused by the Strait of Hormuz slowed down pushed storage levels to critical levels at Iraq's southern port.

Iraq produced approximately 4 million bpd during January.

Officials said that the Maysan field produced 650,000 bpd before the cut.

The U.S. and Israeli war against Iran has halted Middle?East energy exports, as Tehran attacked ships and energy installations, closed navigation in the Gulf, and forced production stops from Qatar to Iraq.

The Strait of Hormuz has been closed to traffic for the fourth day following an attack by Iran on five ships. This resulted in a stifling of a vital artery that supplies about 20% global oil and LNG.

According to Kpler, China and India will account for almost two-thirds (3.3 million bpd) of the average Iraqi crude oil exports by 2025. A further 560,000 bpd is expected to be exported?to Europe.

BP, PetroChina, and China 'National Offshore Oil Corporation did not respond immediately to requests for comments. (Reporting and writing by Stephanie Kelly, Nadine Adwadalla and Ahmad Ghaddar. Additional reporting by Ahmed Rasheed and Aref Mohammed. Editing and proofreading by Susan Fenton.

(source: Reuters)