Qatar Airways continues to reinstate its network across the Middle East, announcing the return of passenger flights to Baghdad (BGW), Basra (BSR), and Erbil (EBL) in Iraq, starting on May 10, 2026.
Iraq could restore crude oil exports to around 3.4 million barrels per day within a week provided the Iran war ends and the Strait of Hormuz reopens, the head of the country’s state-run Basra Oil Company said.
An oil tanker loaded with Iraqi crude was seen passing through the Strait of Hormuz close to the Iranian coast a day after Iran said Iraq was exempt from any restrictions to transit the vital sea route, data from LSEG and Kpler showed.
Maysan Oil Company, owned by the Iraqi Ministry of Oil, announced late Saturday (April 4) that its warehouses in the Bazarkan's oil field in Maysan Province were subjected to an unidentified drone attack.
Iraq has approved the bidding process for a $4.6 billion oil pipeline linking Basra to Haditha, in a step aimed at strengthening its crude export infrastructure. The planned pipeline will stretch 685 km, transporting crude oil from southern Iraq to northern regions.
Iraqi oil production from its main southern oilfields has fallen by 70 per cent to just 1.3 million barrels per day as the country is unable to export oil via the Strait of Hormuz due to the Iran war, three industry sources said.
Crude oil supplies from Iraq and Kuwait could start shutting in within days if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed, potentially cutting 3.3 million barrels per day (bpd) by day eight of the Middle East conflict, JP Morgan analysts said in a note.
Iraq has asked the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) if it would pump at least 100,000 barrels of crude per day from its state-managed Kirkuk oilfields to Turkey's Ceyhan port, two oil officials familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Saudi Arabia has curtailed its crude oil production by an estimated 2 million to 2.5 million barrels per day, while the UAE has reduced output by approximately 500,000 to 800,000 barrels daily, Bloomberg reported.
Three Gulf states — Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates — have reaffirmed their solidarity with Kuwait following Iraq’s submission of maritime coordinates and maps to the United Nations, which they say infringe on Kuwait’s sovereign rights.
