Iraq intends to cut oil production in the first two months of this year to compensate for the violation of the OPEC + deal from last year, said a representative of the Iraqi State Organization for Marketing of Oil (SOMO), Report informs, citing Bloomberg.
According to the deputy head of SOMO, Ali Nizar, the average daily oil production in Iraq in January and February will be about 3.6 million barrels per day.
The agency said this is the lowest level since early 2015. The figure is also less than in December when the volume was 3.85 million. Ali Nizar said that exports, with respect to Kurdistan, will amount to just over 3 million barrels per day. For comparison, the figure was 3.3 million last month.
All the same, Iraq's ability to achieve the production target will depend, among other things, on the Kurdistan Region's authorities, Ali Nizar said. He stressed that Iraq is still committed to the OPEC + deal.
In September 2021, the head of SOMO Alaa al-Yasiri said that Iraq's failure to fulfill the OPEC + deal was caused by uncontrolled oil production in Kurdistan.
The new OPEC + deal started in May 2020 with a reduction in oil output by 9.7 million barrels per day. From August, the alliance relaxed the restrictions to 7.7 million and, in January 2021, agreed on cuts of 7.2 million.