Kurdistan oil exports not subject to OPEC reduction agreement
VIENNA, Austria – Kurdistan Region oil exports are not subject to OPEC’s renewed reduction targets, Iraq’s oil minister stated, adding, however, that he hopes they will be included. He said he will visit the Region to discuss the matter with the Kurdistan government, with whom, he said, Baghdad has good relations.
“Our relations with the Kurdistan Region are very good. We have coordination with each other. There might be misunderstanding and lack of clarity with respect to some issues. Nevertheless, we continued relations, but we should be more accurate,” Minister Jabbar al-Luaibi told Rudaw Thursday in Vienna while participating in the OPEC meeting.
On Wednesday, OPEC member states announced that they have agreed to cut oil outputs for another nine months as they attempt to bolster the oil market.
“The reduction doesn’t include the Kurdistan Region,” Luaibi said. “But we will be trying to include the Kurdistan Region in the reduction of its oil. I have plans to visit the Kurdistan Region and discuss this with them after my return to Iraq.”
OPEC members and non-members first reduced production after reaching an agreement in November 2016 to cut productions by 1,200,000 barrels per day for six months. Iraq’s share in this collective reduction in oil production was 210,000 barrels of oil daily.
Also attending the OPEC meeting, Iran’s oil minister, Bijan Zanganeh, said his country is signing contracts with European and Asian oil companies, but not American companies who are limited by the US administration.
Pointing to the country’s recent high election turnout and public desire for greater international ties, Zanganeh said, “it’s the time, I think, for the US administration to change their position against the Iranian nation.”
Iran’s oil minister Bijan Zanganeh speaking in Vienna.
“Our relations with the Kurdistan Region are very good. We have coordination with each other. There might be misunderstanding and lack of clarity with respect to some issues. Nevertheless, we continued relations, but we should be more accurate,” Minister Jabbar al-Luaibi told Rudaw Thursday in Vienna while participating in the OPEC meeting.
On Wednesday, OPEC member states announced that they have agreed to cut oil outputs for another nine months as they attempt to bolster the oil market.
“The reduction doesn’t include the Kurdistan Region,” Luaibi said. “But we will be trying to include the Kurdistan Region in the reduction of its oil. I have plans to visit the Kurdistan Region and discuss this with them after my return to Iraq.”
OPEC members and non-members first reduced production after reaching an agreement in November 2016 to cut productions by 1,200,000 barrels per day for six months. Iraq’s share in this collective reduction in oil production was 210,000 barrels of oil daily.
Also attending the OPEC meeting, Iran’s oil minister, Bijan Zanganeh, said his country is signing contracts with European and Asian oil companies, but not American companies who are limited by the US administration.
Pointing to the country’s recent high election turnout and public desire for greater international ties, Zanganeh said, “it’s the time, I think, for the US administration to change their position against the Iranian nation.”
Iran’s oil minister Bijan Zanganeh speaking in Vienna.