Falah Alamri, head of the State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO), said on the sidelines of an energy conference in Istanbul that he expected oil exports to continue to increase in the coming months.The previous highest monthly exports since the invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein were achieved in July 2009 when shipments reached 2.037 million bpd, according to SOMO figures.Alamri said Iraq in January exported 409,000 bpd of oil from its northern fields near the city of Kirkuk, plus another 10,000 bpd taken through Jordan via trucks. As usual, the bulk of the exports was shipped from the southern oil hub of Basra, he said.Alarmi's remarks came as Iraqi Kurdistan's prime minister, meanwhile, said the autonomous region was preparing to resume oil exports "soon" after a long standoff with central government authorities in Baghdad."Work is going on right now regarding resuming oil exports soon," Barham Saleh said. "Companies have started conducting tests of the pumps to restart operations.""We are optimistic of implementing the deal that has been agreed, and soon oil exports will resume," he added.Baghdad and Kurdish authorities in Arbil have long argued over Kurdistan's oil since the region halted crude exports in October 2009 due to a payment dispute with Baghdad.The two sides have argued as well over revenue sharing and the central government's refusal to recognize Kurdish contracts.But last month, the two sides appeared to reach an agreement whereby Baghdad agreed to pay for the expenses of oil companies working in the region and exports were to resume Tuesday.Oil Ministry spokesman Assem Jihad said in a separate statement Wednesday that oil production in Iraq was expected to rise to three million barrels per day by the end of the year, from around 2.5 million barrels at present.Oil revenues account for the lion's share of Iraq's government income.Iraq's oil production has reached 2.7 million bpd, the first time it has reached that level in 20 years as investment increased and violence dropped.It sits on some of the world's largest crude reserves.In 2009, the government auctioned off some of Iraq's biggest oil fields. The deals have the potential to raise its output capacity to 12 million bpd in about six years though analysts say 6-7 million bpd is a more realistic target. Iraq desperately needs tens of billions of dollars to rebuild its shattered infrastructure after decades of war, sanctions and underinvestment. It has ambitious plans to quadruple its oil production capacity as it emerges from the worst of the sectarian carnage triggered after the invasion.