Iraq has reaffirmed its commitment to the Opec+ agreement and announced plans to present an updated strategy to compensate for previous overproduction. This follows discussions between Iraq’s oil minister, Hayan Abdel-Ghani, and officials from Saudi Arabia, Russia, and Opec.
As Opec’s second-largest producer, Iraq emphasized its ongoing efforts to make up for accumulated overproduction while anticipating the resumption of oil exports from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). The Opec+ group, which includes Opec members and allies like Russia, is set to begin scheduled supply increases in April, after extending its output cuts through the first quarter of 2025. The cuts, amounting to 5.85 million barrels per day (bpd), are a response to weak global demand and rising supply outside the group.
Iraq is also awaiting Turkey’s approval to restart oil exports from the KRG, which have been halted since March 2022 following a legal dispute. The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) had ordered Turkey to pay Baghdad $1.5 billion in damages for unauthorized oil exports between 2014 and 2018.
Sources indicated that the U.S. administration has been pressuring Iraq to allow Kurdish oil exports to resume, warning of potential sanctions similar to those imposed on Iran. However, an Iraqi official later denied claims of such pressure or the threat of sanctions.
Once exports resume, Iraq plans to ship around 185,000 barrels per day of crude oil from Kurdistan through the Iraq-Turkey pipeline. Iraq and Kazakhstan have also agreed to make compensation cuts to address the previous overproduction.
