Iraqi Oil Production is back up.

A Revival for Iraq's Oil Industry as Output Nears Prewar Levels

A month before the April 1 deadline set by Iraq and American officials for restoring the industry to prewar levels, the country is producing 2.3 million to 2.5 million barrels a day, compared with 2.8 million barrels a day before the war.

With additional production increases expected, oil exports this year could add $14 billion to Iraq's threadbare budget, compared with a little more than $5 billion last year, said a senior official with the Coalition Provisional Authority, the occupation government.

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okay, a couple of points here.

1. Opec just cut its production, and now iraq is back up and operating...and is outside opec's control. that's of interest. opec will probably be dwarfed by canadian, russian, and iraqi production in the coming years...especially since iraq has only tapped 2% of its potential reserves.

2. The massive boost to the iraqi treasury is a good thing. its going to take a chunk out of the US' projected spending in iraq. can you hear a collective sigh of relief?