Iraq to increase oil exports

Iraq said on Sunday that it will increase its oil exports to 2.7 million barrels per day after the delivery of spare parts needed to repair its oil equipment.

In a statement issued on Sunday by al-Musawir al-Arabi magazine in Baghdad, Iraqi Oil Minister Amir Rashid said the decline in oil prices is forcing Iraq to increase its oil exports so as to be able to pay a sum of $300 million for the imported spare parts.

Rashid added that Iraq has exported 80 million barrels of oil since the beginning of the fourth stage of the oil-for-food program in June. It was in June that the UN Security Council approved Iraqi imports of spare parts at a cost of $300 million to repair the Iraqi oil production infrastructure to increase the volume of its oil exports.