Iraq's Southern Oil Exports Running at 3.3 Mln bpd

Iraq's' exports from the southern region have been running at an average daily rate of 3.297 million barrels per day (bpd) so far this month, higher than December's average, unaffected by tribal clashes, a company executive said.

All the fields are running normally, state-run South Oil Co.'s deputy director general Salah Mahdi told Reuters in an interview in Basra. "The security situation is very good, I don't see any impact on our oil operations," he said.

Iraq sent an armoured army division and a police strike force into the southern oil city of Basra to disarm residents as fighting between rival Shi'ite Muslim tribes intensified, local officials and security sources said.

Iraq exported 3.215 million bpd on average in December, according to the oil ministry. The country produces most of its oil from the southern region.