Iraq's West Qurna 2 field undergoes one-month maintenance – report

Quantum Commodity Intelligence – Iraq's giant West Qurna 2 oil field has shut down for maintenance that is expected to last one month, removing approximately 400,000 barrels per day of production, according to the Iraq Oil Report.

The field accounts for around 10% of Iraq's overall production and the maintenance comes as global oil prices hit the highest levels since the third quarter of 2014.

The report said Iraq has enough spare capacity at other fields to cover the lost output from West Qurna 2, although it is unclear how much new production is being brought online to compensate.

Iraq's January crude oil exports were down 2.3% month-on-month to 3.2 million bpd, according to data from the oil ministry.

Dubai crude prices, used by Iraq as its primary benchmark, has averaged almost $92/b so far in February, according to Quantum data, peaking at more than $98/b on Thursday.