Oil exports from Iraq’s southern Basra ports reached a record high of 3.51 million barrels per day (bpd) in December, the oil ministry said on Monday. Iraq’s Oil Minister Jabar Ali al-Luaibi said the unprecedentedly high exports from the south would not affect Iraq’s decision to lower production in January in line with an OPEC agreement, however, according to a ministry statement. Luaibi welcomed what he said were “improved prices” of oil resulting from the OPEC decision. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)agreed in November to cut output by 1.2 million barrels per day from January 2017 to support prices. Iraq, OPEC’s second-largest producer, said it would reduce output by 200,000 bpd to 4.351 million bpd. However, it increased Basra crude supplies for January to its customers in Asia after cutting […]