Iraq ceases resistance to OPEC deal

Iraq will work with OPEC on ways to combat the global oil supply glut and ensure the stability of prices, the country’s prime minister, Haider Al Abadi, said on Wednesday.

Speaking to the press in Baghdad, he said Iraq would “cut its output to preserve prices,” signalling an end to the country’s objections to a future OPEC agreement on reducing production. Disagreement first surfaced in the aftermath of the preliminary September OPEC agreement, with Baghdad saying the organisation’s estimates of Iraq’s oil production were off. It also cited the past three decades of war and turmoil as reasons why the country, OPEC’s the second-largest producer, should be exempted from an agreement on lowering output.

“If OPEC cuts down output at 1 million barrels a day, this will help prices to go up and Iraq will make gains from this,” Abadi said, adding that an increase of 1 dollar would raise the country’s annual revenue by USD 1 billion.