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Dow Jones Newswires : Iraqi Production Back at 2.5 Million bpd

By  Hashem Kalantari 

Monday, August 14, 2006 

TEHRAN, Aug 14, 2006: Iraq’s crude oil production is back at 2.5 million barrels a day after the pipeline that takes oil to Turkey was repaired, Iraq’s Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani told the Iranian daily Sharq Monday.

The minister also said he believed the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will maintain their current output ceiling at its next meeting in September.

“The pipeline was recommissioned two days ago and with that Iraq’s production rose to 2.5 million b/d,” Shahristani said. The pipeline to Turkey, a popular sabotage target, has a capacity of 400,000 b/d.

Shahristani said plans are under way to raise Iraq’s oil production to between 2.9 million and 3 million b/d by the end of the current year, and raise it by 500,000 b/d annually by 2010.

“Therefore, Iraq’s oil production will rise to 4.5 million b/d by the end of the current (Iraqi) government in 2010,” Shahristani said.

The surge in Iraq’s production will be realized through the utilization of domestic resources and without any foreign involvement, he said. Any hike in the country’s national oil production using foreign oil companies will raise production above and over the projected output.

“If the agreements with international oil companies on the development of oil fields are signed, Iraq’s oil production will rise to 6 to 8 million b/d,” Shahristani said, without giving any timeframe for this target.

He also said agreements being negotiated with foreign oil companies will be by no means limited to U.S. companies, and Iraq will take the advantage of such European energy firms as BP PLC (BP), Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA), Total SA (TOT) and firms from China.

As to what OPEC plans to do with its output at its September 11 meeting in Vienna, Shahristani said: “We are currently deliberating with one another, but I am of the opinion that the current production ceiling be maintained.”

Shahristani arrived in Tehran on Friday on a four-day official visit to follow up on the agreements between the two countries in the oil sector. The two countries are to explore the possibility of developing jointly their shared oil fields and a technical group was set up to advise on that.

On the likelihood of U.S. opposition to close cooperation with Iran in the vital oil industry, Shahristani said Baghdad decides on the basis of maximizing its own interests.

It was also agreed Iran would receive 100,000 b/d of Iraqi oil to refine at Abadan and Kermanshah refineries, of which Iraq would receive 2 million liters of kerosene among other derivatives.

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