Iraq Sees Steady Oil Prices and Considers Buying Exxon Stake

  • Crude will probably stay at $65 in coming months: oil minister
  • OPEC will continue keeping oil prices ‘within normal averages’

The sun sets over an oil refinery in the southern Iraqi town of Nasiriyah, Iraq. 

Photographer: Assad Al-Niyazi/AFP/Getty Images

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Iraq, OPEC’s second-biggest oil producer, said crude prices would probably remain around $65 a barrel in the coming months and announced it’s considering buying Exxon Mobil Corp.’s stake in one of the world’s biggest fields.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies -- a 23-nation grouping known as OPEC+ -- will continue trying to keep crude prices “within normal averages,” Oil Minister Ihsan Abdul Jabbar told reporters in Baghdad. “There is no concern about a drop in prices.”