Iraq's Premier says he hopes that producers will reconsider the oil export quota
Iraq hopes that fellow producers will review its oil export quota in order to better reflect the country's production capacity. This rare comment from a senior Iraqi official was made by Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani on Saturday.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is pressuring Iraq, the largest overproducer in the group, to reduce output as compensation for producing more than the agreed-upon volume.
In April, it was one of the countries who submitted plans to reduce oil production to compensate for exceeding agreed quotas.
According to the Oil Ministry, Iraq exported an average of 3.38 million barrels of oil per day during August. The average September oil exports will be between 3.4 and 3.45 millions barrels per day, according to the head of the state-owned oil company SOMO.
OPEC counts the oil flowing from Kurdistan in Iraq's quota.
Sudani had previously publicly called for a review to be conducted of Iraq's production cap in late 2022.
OPEC+ - which includes OPEC plus Russia and allies - has reversed the strategy of production cuts since April. It has already increased quotas to around 2.5 million barrels a day, or about 2.4% of global demand.
This move was made in response to pressure from U.S. president Donald Trump, who has been pushing for lower oil prices.
On Sunday, eight countries from OPEC+ will meet online to discuss a possible increase in output.
A second boost in output would allow OPEC+ to begin unwinding a second layer, about 1,65 million barrels a day or 1.6% of global demand, over a year earlier than scheduled.
Ali Nazar, the Iraqi OPEC representative, responded to a question regarding Sunday's gathering by saying that attention was focused on balancing market, either through increasing production, maintaining current levels, or cutting.
Sudani said that arrangements would also be made to facilitate the entry into Iraq of major oil companies.
Iraq has been signing agreements in the last two years with oil companies that previously left the country. These include Chevron, France’s TotalEnergies, and UK oil giant BP. Reporting by Muayad Haeed, Ahmed Rasheed, and Jaidaa T.A. ; Editing by Jan Harvey & Aidan Lewis
(source: Reuters)
