Iraq is pumping around 4.5 million barrels of oil per day, a senior official said on Tuesday, as issues including maintenance and power outages slow output from January's record high 4.78 million bpd.

Falah Alamri, Iraq's Opec governor and head of the State Oil Marketing Organisation (Somo), said a decision to stop production of 170,000 bpd of Kirkuk crude, and the impact of bad weather and maintenance had slowed output.

"There is volatility around 100,000 to 200,000 bpd each month," he told reporters on the sidelines of an Iraq oil conference in London.

Power outages were affecting production in southern Iraq of between 50,000 bpd to 70,000 bpd, he said. These have contributed to a slowdown in Iraqi exports so far in May.

Iraq is Opec's second-largest producer after Saudi Arabia. - Reuters