In a statement released on Sunday, October 9, the Iraqi oil minister encouraged oil and natural gas producers with operations in the country to continue increasing oil output next year.
The comments by Jabar al-Luaibi’s comments came hot on the heels of an agreement by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ (OPEC) members to cut oil output for the first time in eight years. This was in a bid to rally crude oil prices, which have been performing badly in recent months.
The statement, which was released by the ministry, quoted remarks made by Mr. al-Luabi when he attended a meeting of Iraq oil industry executives in Basra, where they were gathered to review development plans for the ministry’s oil fields.
What was not mentioned was the agreement that had, on September 28, been reached by OPEC countries to cut crude oil output by a figure of around 33 million barrels per day.
In September, OPEC members’ total oil production stood at approximately 33.6 million barrels per day, with Iraq’s output contributing 4.43 million barrels per day, according to a survey conducted by Reuters.
Part of the recently released Iraqi statement noted al-Luabi stressing the need for Iraq to increase its production of oil and gas for the rest of this year, and into 2017:
OPEC member countries and oil giants, such as Fuchs Petrolub, maker of Fuchs WSP 783-L, want to see an increase in global oil prices, so will be listening closely to developments in Iraq.
