Iraq conduct talks with oil companies to reduce planned production rates

“We have reviewed the production plans for all fields,” Hussain al-Shahristani said in a statement to “Agence France Presse “(AFP), briefed by “Shafaq News”.

“We agreed on some plans and others remains under talks,” noting that “the scientific review include all contracts that were given in 2009”.

Iraq seeks through this step to reduce the production rates to pump oil over in a longer period of time than those offered by previous planned production rates, according to al-Shahristani.

Although Iraq will have according to this scenario, the ability to produce about nine million barrels a day, al-Shahristani said that the daily production will be between five and six million barrels that will provide sufficient revenue to meet our needs”.

The former oil minister hoped that the price of the oil barrel would remain, which currently stands at about 92$, in the level of 90$, noting that if prices declined more than that, “we will have to reconsider our budget, but we do not expect a similar reduction”.

Iraq, which has confirmed oil reserves estimated at 143 billion barrels, the third largest reserves in the world, produces more than 3.4 million barrels per day, and export about 2.6 million barrels.

Baghdad plans for a significant increase in export rates in the near future, while International Atomic Energy Agency indicates that Iraq's oil revenues could reach nearly five trillion dollars by 2035, and the country will become the largest financier of oil in the world over the years.

The Iraqi Oil Minister ,Abdul Karim al-Leebi announced last March that his country plans to invest about 175 billion$  in the oil sector over the next five years until it reaches its production to nine million barrels per day.