Iraqi oil revenues decline in June with price drops, domestic diversions

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq's oil revenues dropped by 17.6 percent from May to June due to plummeting prices in the international market and the diversion of some production to meet domestic needs, the government said Monday.

The decline in revenues challenges oil-reliant Iraq, since the violence-plagued country needs hundreds of billions of dollars for reconstruction after the withdrawal of the last U.S. troops late last year. Oil revenues make up about 95 percent of the fragile democratic government's budget.