Iraq’s Oil Ministry has reaffirmed its commitment to ambitious oil production targets, and is aiming for 3 million barrels per day (bpd) by the end of the year.
Oil Minister Abdel Karim al-Luaibi told a conference in the Jordanian capital of Ammam on Friday that policy remains to produce “three million bpd by the end of 2011, and export 2.5 million bpd next year,” reported the NOW Lebanon online journal.
The conference hosted the 46 firms pre-approved for the fourth bidding round for 12 exploration blocs up for auction in January 2012.
“We are implementing a plan that is unprecedented in the history of Iraq’s oil industry, multiplying oil and gas production to four times and building gigantic infrastructure and projects to turn Iraq into a key energy source in the world,” said al-Luaibi.
Iraq currently produces around 2.7 million bpd, which the government hopes to raise to over 12 million bpd by 2017, a target which many international observer, industry experts and analysts believe is almost impossible, due to stymied political progress and daunting infrastructural and ongoing security problems.
