Iraqi Plan to Boost Oil Production Sets Up OPEC Quota Tussle
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Iraq is due to start pumping crude from two of its largest oil fields within weeks, creating a possible obstacle to future efforts by OPEC to curb supplies in the event of a drop in prices.
The Gulf state plans to start production at Majnoon within days, followed by Gharraf in July and West Qurna-2 by year-end, lifting capacity by 400,000 barrels a day, Oil Minister Abdul Kareem al-Luaibi told reporters in Vienna today before an Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries meeting tomorrow. The nation, OPEC’s biggest producer after Saudi Arabia, currently pumps 3.125 million barrels a day, he said, without specifying output capacity.