Iraq Sets Its National Record in Oil Production

           Despite the insurgency by Islamist terrorists, Iraq has emerged from its liberation by United States-led forces in 2003 to set a national record in oil production, the Iraqi Republic’s oil ministry reported.  

           Last month, four billion barrels of oil were pumped per day, on average, surpassing the previous record set in 1979, in the early days of the Baathist regime of Saddam Hussein.  Only Saudi Arabia currently produces more oil than Iraq.  

           The increase in Iraqi production, along with increased American production and reduced global demand because of conservation and economic weakness, is one of the main reasons for the current oil glut and consequent dramatic drop in the price of crude oil.  Nonetheless, Iraq’s budget should benefit from oil revenue.  The new Iraqi government had recently reached an oil revenue-sharing agreement with the Kurdish-held areas.