Iraq To Export Oil From 2nd Floating Terminal

Iraq will start crude oil loading from a new floating terminal in Basra Friday, the second the country has started operating within a month and a half, which will boost export capacity by another 800,000 to 900,000 barrels a day, a senior Iraqi oil official said.

"We have docked an oil tanker at the new Single-Point Mooring (or SPM), and loading operations are expected to start later today," the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Dow Jones Newswires.

Last month Iraq started loading from a similar SPM in the Gulf, thus alleviating a bottleneck and sending country's total crude oil export to 2.317 million barrels a day, a record high since the 2003 U.S.-led war against Iraq.

The two operating SPMs, built by a subsidiary of Australia's Leighton Holding Ltd. (LEI.AU) (two of five SPMs the country is building in the Gulf) will eventually bring Iraq's total exports capacity from southern terminals to around 3.5 million barrels a day, officials said.