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Iraq Set to Pump Less Oil Than Last Year

Despite President Bush's optimism on Iraq's reconstruction, the country appears set to pump less crude in 2005 than last year's disappointing showing and far less than under Saddam Hussein.

...attacks [on infrastructure] have made it all but impossible to attract foreign expertise needed to rejuvenate Iraq's rusty oil infrastructure, drill new wells or take any number of steps toward increasing production or exports.

Legal disputes between Iraq's provinces and central government about ownership of oil is also keeping investors away, said Jamal Qureshi, an oil analyst with PFC Energy in Washington.

... analysts say daily production this year will average about 1.8 million barrels per day, about 10 percent less than 2004 levels of about 2 million barrels -- and just over half 1990 levels.

Analysts say 2006 looks just as gloomy...

--AP

(Via Antiwar.com.)