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Iraq Was Pressured to Increase Oil Output Away from OPEC, Says Oil Minister

A worker is seen at Iraq's Majnoon oilfield near Basra, Iraq, March 31, 2021. Picture taken March 31, 2021. (Reuters)
A worker is seen at Iraq's Majnoon oilfield near Basra, Iraq, March 31, 2021. Picture taken March 31, 2021. (Reuters)
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Iraq Was Pressured to Increase Oil Output Away from OPEC, Says Oil Minister

A worker is seen at Iraq's Majnoon oilfield near Basra, Iraq, March 31, 2021. Picture taken March 31, 2021. (Reuters)
A worker is seen at Iraq's Majnoon oilfield near Basra, Iraq, March 31, 2021. Picture taken March 31, 2021. (Reuters)

Iraq was pressured to increase its oil production outside the remit of OPEC's policy on output, Oil Minister Ihsan Abdul Jabbar said on Saturday.

He also told Al Hadath TV that OPEC was committed to providing the oil supplies needed to compensate for any shortages.

OPEC has resisted calls by the United States and the International Energy Agency to pump more crude to cool prices, which reached a 14-year peak last month after Washington and Brussels imposed sanctions on Moscow following its invasion of Ukraine.

OPEC+, which consists of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and other producers, including Russia, will
raise output by about 432,000 barrels per day in May.

Separately, Iraq said it is still maintaining its position in the Indian oil imports market despite India's increased imports of Russian oil, state news agency INA reported on Friday, citing the state-owned marketer SOMO's head, Alaa al-Yasiri.

"Several countries including India found Russian crude oil, which is now being sold with big discounts, as an alternative to competing crude oils," Al-Yasiri said.

But Iraq is keeping up its high market share in India thanks to the contracts it has with government and private refineries, Al-Yasiri said.

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Exports from Libya's Hariga Oil Port Stop as Crude Supply Dries Up, Say Engineers

A general view of an oil terminal in Zueitina, west of Benghazi April 7, 2014. (Reuters)
A general view of an oil terminal in Zueitina, west of Benghazi April 7, 2014. (Reuters)
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Exports from Libya's Hariga Oil Port Stop as Crude Supply Dries Up, Say Engineers

A general view of an oil terminal in Zueitina, west of Benghazi April 7, 2014. (Reuters)
A general view of an oil terminal in Zueitina, west of Benghazi April 7, 2014. (Reuters)

The Libyan oil export port of Hariga has stopped operating due to insufficient crude supplies, two engineers at the terminal told Reuters on Saturday, as a standoff between rival political factions shuts most of the country's oilfields.

This week's flare-up in a dispute over control of the central bank threatens a new bout of instability in the North African country, a major oil producer that is split between eastern and western factions.

The eastern-based administration, which controls oilfields that account for almost all the country's production, are demanding western authorities back down over the replacement of the central bank governor - a key position in a state where control over oil revenue is the biggest prize for all factions.

Exports from Hariga stopped following the near-total shutdown of the Sarir oilfield, the port's main supplier, the engineers said.

Sarir normally produces about 209,000 barrels per day (bpd). Libya pumped about 1.18 million bpd in July in total.

Libya's National Oil Corporation NOC, which controls the country's oil resources, said on Friday the recent oilfield closures have caused the loss of approximately 63% of total oil production.