Saudi Arabia cut production by 150,000 bpd to around 9.4mn bpd as buyers in the US requested less crude ahead of shutdowns for spring refinery maintenance, according to the survey of consultants, shippers, industry and Opec sources. A heavy round of maintenance is due to start toward the end of the first quarter after some US refiners delayed work in the autumn to compensate for hurricane-related outages on the Gulf Coast. Iraq's exports fell to their lowest level since the 2003 war at 1.08mn bpd, down from 1.21mn bpd in November. Bad weather, technical problems and pipeline sabotage combined to reduce Iraq's shipments. The falling exports underscore Iraq's trouble in reviving its oil sector, damaged by decades of wars and UN trade sanctions. Sabotage attacks and insecurity in the country have prevented essential maintenance on the country's ageing infrastructure. Insecurity also reduced crude deliveries through pipelines to its refineries. Production from the 10 Opec-members not bound by quotas, excluding Iraq, fell 50,000 bpd to 28.23mn bpd as increased output from the United Arab Emirates partially compensated for the fall in Saudi output. Output from the Opec-10 was 230,000 bpd above the group's quota target of 28mn bpd. Opec said at its December meeting that it would look to trim output back to quota levels, preparing the ground for deeper cuts when demand falls after winter ends. But some Opec members have said there is no need to cut after an early rally in oil prices this year. The UAE boosted its exports by around 80,000 bpd in December from November. It aims to boost output capacity of its principal crude, Murban, to 1.5mn bpd early this year from 1.2mn bpd. However, the UAE has cut its January exports by 10% due to maintenance at a natural gas plant. Nigeria's output of light sweet crude, craved by refiners for its rich gasoline content, was steady at around 2.46mn bpd. But Nigerian exports were expected to fall a little in January after an attack on a pipeline there shut in around 180,000 bpd of Bonny Light for 5-6 days in late December. Even before the attack, Nigeria's January export programme was around 40,000 bpd less than in December. Nigerian output should see a boost in 2006 from increased output at the Bonga field. Bonga started up in November and exported its first cargo of 200,000 barrels on December 29. PIN/REUTERS