Iraq to cut down oil production says PM Haider al-Abadi

Iraq’s prime minister says his country will agree to cut its own oil production as part of a plan by OPEC to push crude prices higher. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi told The Associated Press that current prices are not sustainable for oil-producing countries.

Al-Abadi’s comments could be critical because Iraq along with Iran has been reluctant to go along with cuts, creating an obstacle for an OPEC deal, according to published reports.

Al-Abadi said he understands that OPEC members will agree to reduce production by between 900,000 and 1.2 million barrels per day that would be a cut of between 2.7 per cent and 3.6 per cent from October levels. He said it would be enough to push prices up.

“Yes, we will take our share and we agreed to this,” he told the AP.

Benchmark international oil rose USD 1, or 2 per cent, on Monday to close at USD 48.24 a barrel. Al-Abadi said for every dollar oil prices rise, Iraq gains about USD 1 billion.

In late 2014, as crude prices tumbled from more than USD 100 a barrel, OPEC countries decided not to intervene they expected falling prices to drive high-cost producers in the US out of business.

But a worldwide glut of oil has persisted and OPEC has been pumping at record levels. Now the cartel is trying to regain some of its historical ability to affect prices.