Economy

Iraqi minister says OPEC must achieve stability in crude oil price

Iraq almost entirely relies on oil to generate its revenue. Over the past few years, the country has faced budget deficits due to the market’s unstable oil prices.

Kurdistan 24 2018/12/04 12:49

world Iraq Oil OPEC

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) must devise a long-term strategy to stabilize the price of crude oil and reduce damage to oil markets affected by geopolitics, Iraqi Oil Minister Thamer Ghadhban said on Tuesday.

The Iraqi official said his country would work to help balance markets and support prices in the OPEC’s upcoming meeting which is planned to be held this week.

Iraq is OPEC’s second-largest oil producer following Saudi Arabia.

Ghadhban stressed that decreasing oil production should not be the only solution for the low oil prices.

He mentioned that any agreements signed at the meeting should avoid damage to the interests of OPEC and non-OPEC oil producers.

Iraq almost entirely relies on oil to generate its revenue. Over the past few years, the country has faced budget deficits due to the market’s unstable oil prices.

In mid-November, the Federal Government of Iraq restarted exports of Kirkuk oil to Turkey through the Kurdistan Region after a year of disruption following the historic Kurdish independence referendum in September 2017.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany