RoydadNaft –  Iraq’s oil minister said the ministry has lifted crude exports from no more than 200,000 barrels a day, during wartime conditions in the Persian Gulf, to more than 4 million barrels a day.

According to Roydad Naft, the Iraqi parliament’s media office said lawmakers discussed the domestic fuel crisis in Iraq’s provinces at their 19th session, chaired by Haibat al-Halbousi and attended by 232 members. The aim was to examine the causes and effects of the shortage and the government’s steps to manage it.

The Iraqi News Agency (INA) said Oil Minister Basem Mohammed Khudair and senior ministry officials attended to give explanations.

Khudair said that when he took office, exports did not exceed 200,000 barrels a day because of the war in the Persian Gulf. The ministry has now raised exports to more than 4 million barrels a day.

Part of those exports includes cargoes moved from Kirkuk province to Turkey’s Ceyhan port, he said.

Current output of petroleum products has reached 37 million liters a day, and daily production has been increased by 4 million liters to meet the extra market demand that created the crisis, the minister said.

Wartime conditions have made gasoline imports difficult and opened a gap between production and consumption, while the strategic gasoline stockpile had been 350 million liters.

At least 5 million liters of gasoline a day are needed to cover the gap between refinery output and consumption, he said.

The solution this year is additional gasoline imports. The ministry is negotiating with counterparts in several countries to move the required volumes and offset the shortage caused by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz amid the war involving Iran.

Khudair also stressed the need to finish maintenance on the FCC unit in Basra and to keep importing gasoline. The ministry is trying to bring in investment companies to remove obstacles and help ease the crisis.

Gasoline stocks now at 107 million liters

Hussein Taleb Abboud, director-general of the Oil Ministry’s products distribution company, told the session that current gasoline stocks stand at 107 million liters.

Average gasoline production in August 2026 was 28.857 million liters, imports were 3.907 million liters, and domestic consumption was 34.540 million liters, he said.

The speaker of parliament asked the director-general of Iraq’s State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO) about discounts on Iraqi crude versus global prices and about export capacity.

The SOMO chief said Iraq’s export capacity today is 4.254 million barrels. In selling crude, the Oil Ministry takes into account the number of tankers arriving through the Strait of Hormuz and deals carefully with competing buyers of Iraqi oil.

Discounts depend on competition among shipping companies, he said. Firms able to honor contracts in the crisis receive a discount after talks. The discount has been $26.50 a barrel for medium crude and $28 for heavy crude.

Domestic needs now require 5 million liters of gasoline imports a day to close the production-consumption gap and supply the market, he said.

Iraq is currently bringing in extra gasoline from Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and European countries via Syria.