Iraq's crude oil exports have sharply declined since the outbreak of the Middle East conflict, as shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has nearly come to a halt.
Iraq exported 32.11 million barrels of crude oil, including condensates, during May and June, generating revenues exceeding 2.33 billion U.S. dollars, the Iraqi Oil Ministry said in a statement Tuesday.
Iraq normally exports about 100 million barrels of crude monthly, but volumes have plunged since the United States and Israel launched joint strikes on Iran on Feb. 28, triggering the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a key global energy artery.
Citing statistics from Iraq's State Oil Marketing Organization, the ministry said 20.24 million barrels were shipped from southern fields during May and June via the Basra oil terminals, Iraq's primary export hub for crude.
Separately, 10.31 million barrels from northern Iraq's Kirkuk fields and 1.56 million from the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region were exported via the Turkish port of Ceyhan, Türkiye's Mediterranean export terminal in Adana province, it added.
In contrast, Iraq's crude oil exports in February this year stood at about 99.87 million barrels.
Iraq's economy relies heavily on crude oil exports, which account for about 90 percent of the country's revenues.
Iraqi oil exports plunge in May, June amid regional crisis
China has accumulated more than 1.7 million valid invention patents in strategic emerging industries by the end of June this year, said the spokesman for the China National Intellectual Property Administration on Wednesday.
Spokesman Rui Wenbiao, also the deputy director of the administration, said at a press conference in Beijing that China will continue to improve its intellectual property rights protection system for industry.
The intellectual property protection system in emerging fields is constantly innovating. We have released the Guidelines for Patent Applications Related to Artificial Intelligence and revised the Patent Examination Guidelines, adding a chapter on 'AI and Big Data'. By the end of June, China, excluding Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan, had 1.746 million valid invention patents in strategic emerging industries, an increase of 4.3 percent from the end of last year. The 65 approved intellectual property operation centers include 48 ones involved in emerging and future industries such as integrated circuits, biomedicine, aerospace, and 6G, accounting for more than 70 percent of the total," said Rui.
"Next, we will focus on the development and practices of different industries in emerging fields, provide better authorization and rights confirmation models for their development, and define clearer rights ownership, protection scope and protection forms to promote the high-quality development of emerging and future industries," he said.
China's invention patents exceed 1.7 mln in strategic emerging industries
