While the Iraqi government is sticking to it’s 12 million barrels of crude oil per day (bpd) by 2017 production capacity target, it may choose not to produce the oil it can.
“Everybody knows the significance of Iraq’s oil for the whole world and its importance to build and develop the Iraqi economy, along with raising the living standards of Iraqi citizens,“ Iraq’s Deputy Prime-Minister, Hussein al-Shahristani – who has responsibility for energy affairs, is reported in Iraq Business News as saying at the 3rd Iraqi Ambassadors Conference in Baghdad on Saturday.
Shahristani said increased capacity “does not necessarily mean that Iraq would produce such a large quantity of crude oil, because the Iraqi strategy depends on boosting revenues and not only increasing oil exports alone; so we shall watch the market and the level of the quantities of crude Iraq will produce, and then we shall decide Iraq’s highest level of revenues during the forthcoming years”.
Bloomberg quotes Iraqi Oil Ministry spokesman Asim Jihad as saying, “the planned production capacity is 12 million barrels a day, but we may only produce 6 million barrels a day. Iraq will produce in accordance with global crude market needs.”
