Iraqi oil Ministry announced today that volumes of crude oil exports during the month of April have increased to "unprecedented" levels.

The Ministry said in a statement that according to preliminary statistics of the State Organization for Marketing of Oil (SOMO), the Iraqi national company responsible for marketing Iraq's oil, the daily rate of Iraqi oil exports during the month of April reached nearly 3.7 million barrels, indicating that such rate "has not been achieved since the 1980s." Official Spokesman for the Oil Ministry, Assim Jihad said the total volumes of the exported Iraqi crude oil and revenues rose in April to a total of 92. 8 million barrels while revenues amounted to USD 4.8 billion. He explained that exports through southern ports totaled 78.8 million while exports from Turkish Ceyhan terminal amounted to 8.3 million barrels.