Iraq to cut oil production: Oil Minister
Iraq “needed” to raise production as the sweltering heat of the summer months lead to increased domestic consumption, the oil minister said.
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Iraq’s Oil Minister Thamer al-Ghadhban on Sunday said his country would reduce oil production following a series of talks between Prime Minister Adil Abdul Mahdi and senior leaders of other oil-exporting nations on achieving market “stability.”
In January, Baghdad reluctantly agreed to an output-cutting deal made by an alliance of oil giants known as OPEC+ that aimed to bolster petroleum prices and “restore balance between supply and demand” in the market.
However, August saw an increase in output for the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) as a result of higher supply from both Iraq and Nigeria, according to a Reuters report last week. Iraq, the second-largest OPEC oil producer, relies almost entirely on oil to generate its revenue.
Oil Minister Ghadhban said Iraq “needed” to raise production as the sweltering heat of the summer months lead to increased domestic consumption. He added that Iraq is “committed” to the production cut agreement and would start doing so in October.
The minister also pointed out the federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government had reached advanced stages in serious talks on oil production and export.
His comments came before he left for the United Arab Emirates to attend an OPEC meeting.
Editing by Karzan Sulaivany