Production at Iraq's largest field is still down by at least 120,000 bpd as repair crews contend with extensive damage from a Jan. 24 fire.

Change in operator could spur new activity at the oil field, which has been offline since 2023 after a steady production decline.

Iraq's most prolific oil field temporarily lost about 120,000 bpd of production after 60 wells were taken offline in response to a storage tank fire.

A temporary but dramatic drop in output at Iraq's most prolific oil field underscores the challenges of fighting natural reservoir decline and maintaining production.

Steep reduction at Rumaila brought Iraq's December production average to its lowest level in 18 months as Iraq continues to restrain output in an effort to meet OPEC-plus expectations.

A long-sought deal is getting high-level political attention, and some officials expect to clinch an initial contract in January.

OPEC-plus dynamics and the ongoing outage of Iraq's northern export pipeline continue to limit Iraqi oil exports, though revenues were steady year-on-year.