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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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World Leaders Descend on Azerbaijan’s Capital Baku for United Nations Climate Talks

Leaders arrive for a group photo at the COP29 UN Climate Summit, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan. (AP)
Leaders arrive for a group photo at the COP29 UN Climate Summit, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan. (AP)
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World Leaders Descend on Azerbaijan’s Capital Baku for United Nations Climate Talks

Leaders arrive for a group photo at the COP29 UN Climate Summit, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan. (AP)
Leaders arrive for a group photo at the COP29 UN Climate Summit, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan. (AP)

World leaders are converging Tuesday at the United Nations annual climate conference in Baku, Azerbaijan although the big names and powerful countries are noticeably absent, unlike past climate talks which had the star power of a soccer World Cup.

But 2024's climate talks are more like the World Chess Federation finals, lacking the recognizable names but big on nerd power and strategy. The top leaders of the 13 largest carbon dioxide-polluting countries will not appear with their countries responsible for more than 70% of 2023's heat-trapping gases.

Biggest polluters and strongest economies China and the United States aren't sending their No. 1s. The four most populous nations with more than 42% of all the world's population aren't having leaders speak.

“It’s symptomatic of the lack of political will to act. There’s no sense of urgency,” said climate scientist Bill Hare, CEO of Climate Analytics. He said this explains “the absolute mess we’re finding ourselves in.”

On Tuesday, Azerbaijan’s president Ilham Aliyev, United Kingdom’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan are the headliners of among the nearly 50 leaders set to speak.

But there'll be a strong showing expected from the leaders of some of the world’s most climate-vulnerable countries. Several small island nations presidents and over a dozen leaders from countries across Africa are set to speak over the two-day World Leaders’ Summit at the COP29 conference.