Iraq cuts oil production by 170,000 barrels per day

Iraq on Thursday said it has cut oil production by 170,000 barrels per day and will cut it further in the coming days in line with the agreement reached between Opec and non-Opec members in Vienna last month.

"We already cut by 170,000 barrels per day and we are going to knock down another 40,000 barrels per day by the end of the month to take the total reduction by 210,000 barrels per day," Iraq Oil Minister Jabbar Al Luaibi said at the inaugural Atlantic Council Global Energy Forum in Abu Dhabi, Gulf news reported.

He said they are satisfied with the current oil price but would like to see oil price go up to $65 per barrel.

The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries and 11 other producers including Russia agreed on December 10 to jointly cut output by about 1.8 million barrels a day in an effort to end a three-year oil surplus, which sent prices spiralling and battered the economies of producing nations around the world.

Energy Ministers from Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Iraq and Kuwait are participating in the two-day global energy forum which began on Thursday.

The forum will focus on three key themes including the implications of the US elections for the global security and energy space; the emerging new oil and gas market order; and breakthrough energy technologies in the context of energy sector transformation and climate change.

--IANS

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