Iraq Seeks Reassessment of OPEC Production Quotas
Iraq’s Oil Ministry announced that OPEC has begun to gradually restore the country’s pre‑war production allocations, a step intended to strengthen Iraq’s output capacity and support the recovery of its oil sector. In a statement carried by the state news agency, the ministry said Baghdad supports a reassessment of OPEC production quotas so that they better reflect member states’ conditions, specifically citing Iraq’s economic and security circumstances.
The statement also clarified that Iraq’s Prime Minister, Ali Faleh al‑Zaidi, has not discussed the possibility of Iraq leaving OPEC. This follows earlier Reuters reporting that Iraq, OPEC’s second‑largest producer after Saudi Arabia and one of its five founding members, had considered exiting the cartel if OPEC did not permit a significant increase in oil production.
Oil remains the primary source of Iraq’s national income, but revenues have been reduced since the Iran‑Iraq war effectively blocked exports via the Strait of Hormuz. Iraq’s production quota for July is set at 4.378 million barrels per day, yet current output remains significantly below that level because of the ongoing Hormuz disruption.
The article notes that the United Arab Emirates left OPEC less than two months ago, underscoring recent changes in the organization’s membership composition.