Iraq Oil Output to Rise in Early 2011, Minister Says
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Iraq forecast a 17 percent rise in oil output next year and invited companies from South Korea and Kazakhstan to sign immediately a delayed contract for the Akkas gas field, Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani said.
Iraq, holder of the world’s fifth-largest oil reserves, wants foreign investors to help it boost production of crude and natural gas. Output of both has suffered from insurgent attacks and a lack of investment since Saddam Hussein’s ouster in 2003. Seeking to end the stagnation, the government has awarded 12 oil contracts and three gas licences.