CAIRO, March 23 (Reuters) – Iraq plans to raise oil
production capacity to more than 6 million barrels per day (bpd)
by 2029, the state news agency reported Iraq’s oil ministry as
saying on Sunday.
Oil ministry undersecretary Bassem Mohamed Khodeir told the
agency that Iraq aims to achieve its target through oil
exploration and nationwide drilling activity, pointing to a
recent deal with oil major BP to redevelop four Kirkuk
oil and gas fields.
Iraq’s current oil output stands at about 4 million bpd, oil
ministry officials say.
It is the second-largest producer within the OPEC+ group
comprising the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries
and allies including Russia and last month reaffirmed commitment
to the group’s output agreement. Iraq also said it would present
an updated plan to compensate for any previous overproduction.
OPEC+ is cutting output by 5.85 million (bpd), equating to
about 5.7% of global supply, in a series of steps agreed since
2022 and is set to begin scheduled supply increases in April.
(Reporting by Menna Alaa El-Din and Muhammed Al Gebaly
Writing by Menna Alaa El-Din
Editing by Elaine Hardcastle and David Goodman)