(Bloomberg) — Iraq stopped oil production from two southern fields with a combined capacity of almost half a million barrels a day.
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The shutdowns curtail the ability of OPEC’s second-largest member to pump crude just as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and tight supplies globally send prices soaring.
The operators of Nasiriya and West Qurna-2 have said nearby fields will be able to produce more to compensate for the temporary losses.
Work at Nasiriya, capable of supplying as much as 80,000 barrels a day, was halted on Saturday because of protests that prevented staff from reaching the site, according to a statement from Thiqar Oil Co.
That followed the closure of the huge West Qurna-2 field on Feb. 21 for maintenance. The field, which can pump 400,000 barrels a day, is scheduled to resume normal operations on March 14, though the companies that run it are trying…
