The super-giant West Qurna 2 oil field has shut down for nearly a month of maintenance, removing about 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) of production at a time when global oil prices are already spiking due to war in Ukraine and escalating sanctions on Russia.
Iraq has enough spare capacity at other fields to replace the lost output — just under one-tenth of the country’s production — although it is unclear how much new production is being brought online to compensate.