Iraq Targets Oil Exports of 2.5 Million; Gas Talks Next Week
Iraq is targeting year-end crude exports of 2.5 million barrels a day compared with an average of 2.2 million barrels a day in the past five months, the country’s oil minister said.
The Gulf state is producing 2.7 million barrels a day, Oil Minister Abdul Kareem al-Luaibi told reporters today before the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries meeting in Vienna.
Iraq will meet with Royal Dutch Shell Plc next week in Istanbul to discuss its southern gas joint venture, the minister said. The current deal with Shell will lead to “losses” for the country and if no agreement is completed, Iraq will either cooperate with other international oil companies or develop the projects through “national efforts.”
Iraq is engaged in a study to recalculate oil production targets based on “economic benefits,” which could lead to the country extending the “plateau period” for projects to 12-13 years while lowering production, he said.
The nation aims to increase export capacity by 1 million barrels a day by November, when it will open a single-point mooring facility at Basra, al-Luaibi said.
Export capacity in southern Iraq is 1.75 million barrels a day, al-Luaibi said. The country’s total oil export revenue in May was $7.5 billion, he said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Lananh Nguyen in London at lnguyen35@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Steve Voss at sev@bloomberg.net.
Rate this Page