Iraqi oil exports hit highest level since 1980 in March

 　　BAGHDAD, April 1 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi crude oil exports struck the highest level since 1980 in March, as the country exported 71.827 million barrels and brought in more than 8.4 billion U.S. dollars, the Iraqi Oil Ministry¹ said Sunday.

　　The average crude oil exports in March was 2.317 million barrel per day (bpd), with an average selling price of 118 U.S. dollars per barrel, the ministry said in a statement.

　　During the month, Iraq exported 59.427 million barrels of crude oil through the southern port of Basra, and the rest were exported via Turkey's port of Ceyhan on the Mediterranean² Sea, it said.

　　"The amount of oil exported during March climbed up to a level that Iraq has not reached since 1980," the statement quoted the oil ministry spokesman Asim Jihad as saying.

　　Iraqi total oil exports increased despite the decrease of exports from the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan, which reached 65,000 bpd, in addition to sporadic³ attacks on the oil pipelines⁴ in northern Iraq and sometimes bad weather in southern the country, Jihad said.

　　He said that the recent increase in the oil exports was attributed to the new floating oil terminal built in February in the Gulf⁵ in the south of Iraq.

　　The single-point mooring⁶ (SPM) was built with an export capacity of 850,000 to 900,000 bpd in an attempt to increase Iraq' s oil exports through the oil-hub of Basra in southern the country.

　　The new terminal is one of five floating terminals with similar oil export capacity that the Iraqi oil ministry is building in the coming years in the Gulf.

　　Iraq is planning to increase its oil export capacity via Basra port to more than 5 million bpd in the coming years from the current capacity of nearly 1.9 million barrels a day.

　　Iraq has signed service contracts with international firms to develop 12 oil fields across the country to increase its oil production capacity.

　　However, Iraq's oil exports averaged 2.3 million barrels a day through both Basra port and Turkey's Ceyhan port.

　　The country depends on oil revenues for nearly 95 percent of its budget.

　　In 2010 Iraq announced its proven oil reserves had increased to 143.1 billion barrels from the previous estimation of 115 billion barrels.

1 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

2 Mediterranean   

adj.地中海的；地中海沿岸的

参考例句：

• The houses are Mediterranean in character.这些房子都属地中海风格。
• Gibraltar is the key to the Mediterranean.直布罗陀是地中海的要冲。

3 sporadic   

adj.偶尔发生的 [反]regular；分散的

参考例句：

• The sound of sporadic shooting could still be heard.仍能听见零星的枪声。
• You know this better than I.I received only sporadic news about it.你们比我更清楚，而我听到的只是零星消息。

4 pipelines   

管道( pipeline的名词复数 )； 输油管道； 在考虑（或规划、准备） 中； 在酿中

参考例句：

• The oil is carried to the oil refinery by pipelines. 石油通过输油管输送到炼油厂。
• The oil carried in pipelines. 石油用管道输送。

5 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

6 mooring   

n.停泊处；系泊用具，系船具；下锚v.停泊，系泊（船只）(moor的现在分词)

参考例句：

• However, all the best mooring were occupied by local fishing boats. 凡是可以泊船的地方早已被当地渔船占去了。 来自汉英文学 - 散文英译
• Her mind was shaken loose from the little mooring of logic that it had. 就像小船失去了锚，她的思绪毫无逻辑地四处漂浮，一会为这个想法难受，一会为那个念头生气。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹