Iraq’s oil exports surged in December compared with November, due to a slow temporary recovery in November after a year of stagnation, an increase in exports from the northern Kirkuk oilfield and a record high in exports from the southern port of Basra.

In December 2018, Iraq’s oil exports averaged 3.726 million barrels a day, compared with 3.372 million barrels a day in November, when exports fell to their lowest level in seven months due to bad weather at the southern port.

Reuters quoted a statement from the Iraqi Ministry of Oil on Wednesday as saying that Iraq’s oil exports from Basra terminal in December averaged 3.63 million barrels a day, a record high, higher than last month’s average of 3.363 million barrels a day.

According to the Iraqi Ministry of Oil, federal exports from Kirkuk Oilfield to the Mediterranean Port of Seihan, Turkey, surged from an average of 8716 barrels a day in November to 99,000 barrels a day in December.

In mid-November, Iraq resumed oil exports from Kirkuk Province, where oil flows were halted a year ago due to disputes with the Kurdistan region. After a referendum held in the semi-autonomous region that Baghdad did not recognize, the Iraqi federal government took over the Kirkuk oilfield from Kurds in October 2017, shutting down about 300,000 barrels of crude oil per day that had previously been transported and exported to Seihan in Kirkuk Province. However, the only export of Kirkuk’s oil is the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) pipeline. Iraq and KRG use the federal government’s export pipeline to reach agreements in Baghdad.