Iraq has agreed to a nine-month extension of a production cut pact among OPEC members that is aimed at boosting crude prices, the country's oil minister said on Monday.
"We are in agreement with the kingdom (of Saudi Arabia)… to continue the production cut" for another nine months, Jabbar al-Luaybi told a news conference in Baghdad alongside the Saudi energy minister, Khalid al-Falih.
"After our conversation with the prime minister, he gave the green light to his excellency (the Iraqi oil minister) to approve" the nine-month extension, Falih said.
At the end of November, the 13 members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) agreed to cut output by 1.2 million barrels per day from January 1, initially for six months, to reduce a supply glut.
Then in December, non-OPEC producers led by Russia agreed to reduce their own output by 558,000 barrels per day.
OPEC members and Russia will meet on Thursday and are expected to extend the production cut agreement.
"After the historic agreement last November which restored balance to the markets, the oil industry began to recover in a major way, but not completely," Falih said.
Iraq, which relies on revenue from crude sales for the vast majority of government funds, was hit hard by the fall in oil prices, which came as it wages a costly war against the jihadists.
Alaska up for first offshore lease since 2008
After a careful environmental review, the U.S. government said it was putting a section of the Alaskan coast up for auction for oil and gas explorers.
"We conducted a robust environmental analysis and look forward to holding Alaska's first Outer Continental Shelf lease sale since 2008," Walter Cruickshank, the acting director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, said in a statement … read more
