Iraq's oil exports from its southern Basra terminal fell by 67.5 per cent to 552,000 barrels per day (bpd) on Saturday, from 1.7 million bpd on Friday, said a shipper.

The shipper  told Reuters that he did not know the reason for the fall, but exports from the southern Basra terminal, which pumps about three quarters of Iraq's oil, have tended to be erratic in recent months.

Bad weather or technical faults are usually behind a slowdown in the export rate.-Reuters