Iraq supports extending OPEC output pact until December 2022

Malcolm Mayes (R), managing director of the Basra Gas Company (BGC), and Iraq’s oil minister Ihsan Abdul Jabbar (L) attend the inauguration of a new gas compressor station in the Rumaylah oil field near Iraq’s southern port city of Basra on February 28, 2021 [HUSSEIN FALEH/AFP via Getty Images]

Iraq backs a proposal by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies to extend a pact on output curbs until December 2022, Oil Minister Ihsan Abdul Jabbar said on Sunday, adding he expected oil prices to remain at $70 per barrel or above until then, reports Reuters.

Iraq also agrees with a proposal that the group known as OPEC+ should increase its output by 400,000 barrels per day from August, in line with the pact to gradually lift curbs imposed after the pandemic last year triggered a record price collapse.

Speaking at a news briefing in Baghdad, he said Iraq’s oil exports will be 2.9 million bpd in July, marking full compliance with the current OPEC agreement. The country exported crude at the same rate in June, official figures show.

OPEC+ is expected to resume talks on Monday after failing to reach a deal on oil output policy for a second day running on Friday after the United Arab Emirates opposed an extension of the current agreement on output cuts until December 2022.

READ: Iraq borrows $360m from World Bank to expand gas facility

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