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Iraq Denies Asking OPEC for Exemption From Pact Aimed at Reducing Output

Oil tanks are seen at the gas field of Siba in Basra, Iraq April 25, 2018. REUTERS/Essam Al-Sudani /File Photo
Oil tanks are seen at the gas field of Siba in Basra, Iraq April 25, 2018. REUTERS/Essam Al-Sudani /File Photo
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Iraq Denies Asking OPEC for Exemption From Pact Aimed at Reducing Output

Oil tanks are seen at the gas field of Siba in Basra, Iraq April 25, 2018. REUTERS/Essam Al-Sudani /File Photo
Oil tanks are seen at the gas field of Siba in Basra, Iraq April 25, 2018. REUTERS/Essam Al-Sudani /File Photo

Iraq's Oil Minister Ihsan Abdul Jabbar said that Iraq didn't ask OPEC for exemption from a pact aimed at reducing output.

His statements were made following Iraq’s Finance Minister Ali Abdul Amir Allawi announcing that Iraq is feeling the strain under OPEC+ deal.

"We have reached the limit of our ability and willingness to accept a policy of one-size-fits-all," Iraq's finance minister said at a Chatham House Iraq conference this week. "It has to be more nuanced and it has to be related to the per-capita income of people, the presence of sovereign wealth funds, none of which we have."

Oil prices are expected to reach about USD50 at the beginning of 2021 amid a mild recovery in global demand, the oil minister said.

He added that the commitment of members to the deal would help boost oil prices and Iraq was not seeking exemption “fearing from new retreat in oil prices.”

Under the current OPEC+ agreement, Iraq was required to cut output by more than 1mn b/d in May-July and by 849,000 b/d in August-December from an October 2018 baseline of 4.65mn b/d.

The results of the OPEC+ coalition’s output-cuts deal have been positive and stabilizing for the oil market, given the impact the coronavirus pandemic has had on producers and importers of crude, Jabbar said.

Iraq has exported an average of 2.88 million barrels a day in November. Exports from Basra ports to the south reached 2.77 million barrels a day in November, citing the oil minister.

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Asian Stocks Gain after China Teases US Tariff Talks

Asian markets largely rose Friday, tracking Wall Street gains and as China said it was considering a US offer to negotiate steep tariffs. JADE GAO / AFP/File
Asian markets largely rose Friday, tracking Wall Street gains and as China said it was considering a US offer to negotiate steep tariffs. JADE GAO / AFP/File
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Asian Stocks Gain after China Teases US Tariff Talks

Asian markets largely rose Friday, tracking Wall Street gains and as China said it was considering a US offer to negotiate steep tariffs. JADE GAO / AFP/File
Asian markets largely rose Friday, tracking Wall Street gains and as China said it was considering a US offer to negotiate steep tariffs. JADE GAO / AFP/File

Asian markets largely rose Friday, tracking Wall Street gains, as China said it was considering a US offer to negotiate steep tariffs.

US markets forged higher Thursday following strong results from tech giants Microsoft and Meta that helped offset lingering economic worries.

Apple reported first-quarter profit above expectations but warned that US tariffs could cost the company and were disrupting its supply chain.

And Amazon reported a nine percent rise in first-quarter revenue, but its outlook fell as potential impact from the US-China trade war rattled investors.

Washington's punishing levies reached 145 percent on many Chinese products in April, while Beijing has responded with fresh 125 percent duties on imports from the United States.

On Friday, China's commerce ministry said it was evaluating a US offer for negotiations on tariffs, but wanted Washington to show "sincerity" and be ready to scrap levies that have roiled global markets and supply chains.

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed that China has reached out for talks on the tariffs, and this week said he believed there was a "very good chance we're going to make a deal".

Dozens of countries face a 90-day deadline expiring in July to strike an agreement with Washington and avoid higher, country-specific rates.

Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said Beijing and Washington were now "waving detente flags" in their spiraling trade war.

Beijing's demand for sincerity was an apparent call to ditch the 145 percent rate, before holding serious talks, Innes said in a note Friday.

"But dig a layer deeper, and the path is still littered with landmines," he added.

In Asia trading Friday, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was up more than one percent in the morning, while Japan's main Nikkei index gained about 0.6 percent.

Japan's envoy for US tariff talks said in Washington on Thursday that a second round of negotiations between the two countries had been "frank and constructive".

Japan, a key US ally and its biggest investor, is subject to the same 10 percent baseline tariffs imposed on most nations plus steeper levies on cars, steel and aluminium.

The Bank of Japan warned earlier that tariffs were fueling global economic uncertainty and revised down its growth forecasts while keeping its key interest rate steady.

Traders are looking ahead Friday to US jobs data for April for indications of the US central bank's path for interest rates.