/Reuters Agency
Iraq has increased its oil exports after the gradual dismantling of voluntary production cuts established under an OPEC+ agreement. The increase in shipments is expected to generate hundreds of millions of dollars in additional revenue at current prices, said Ali Nizar Al-Shatari, director general of Iraq’s State Organization for Marketing of Oil (Somo).
Earlier this month, eight OPEC+ members agreed to increase fuel production starting in October by 137,000 barrels per day. OPEC+ has been increasing processing since April, after several years of cuts aimed at supporting the oil market.
Ali Nizar Al-Shatari did not specify the exact volume of the increase in exports, but noted that an additional production of 200,000 barrels per day would help increase government revenue.
Iraq’s oil shipments averaged 3.38 million barrels per day in August, according to the Oil Ministry. Somo forecasts that the average shipments in September will range between 3.4 and 3.45 million barrels per day.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said earlier this month that he hopes other producing countries will reconsider the export quota assigned to Iraq, in order to better reflect its production capacity.
Iraq, OPEC’s largest overproducer, is under pressure from the group to reduce the amount it produces as compensation for having pumped above the agreed quota.
The Middle Eastern nation was one of the countries that presented plans in April to implement additional cuts in its oil production, in order to compensate for the excess over the agreed limits.
