Iraq Urges OPEC to Cut ProductionIraq on Tuesday called on the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), due to hold a meeting on March 15, to further cut oil production by 1 million barrels per day (bpd).The OPEC should further reduce oil production because "there is a surplus in oil output while there is no tangible increase of oil demand in this season," Iraqi Undersecretary of the Oil Ministry Faiz Abdullah Shahin said in a statement, carried by the official Iraqi News Agency (INA). "I expect OPEC oil ministers will adopt a resolution to maintain just oil prices and safeguard their interests," Shahin was quoted by INA as saying. At its Vienna meeting in January, the 11-nation OPEC decided to slash oil production by 1.5 million bpd from February 1 to boost oil prices. It was the first time that the oil cartel reduced oil output since March 1999, when it announced the reduction of oil output by 1.7 million bpd. |
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