Iraq sees no need for further OPEC output cuts, will support consensus if such need arises

Iraq doesn’t see a need for more collaborative oil production cuts currently, but it would support consensus within OPEC if such need arises, Jabbar al-Luiebi, Iraqi Oil Minister said Tuesday, adding that it was still too early to decide on actions to take beyond March next year.

OPEC and the non-OPEC producers that are part of the deal are discussing several options, including extending the cuts and even deeper cuts, yet it’s premature to decide on now, according to the Iraqi minister.

Some producers favor extending the deal for three to four months beyond March 2018, while others believe it should be extended until the end of next year. Still another group—including Ecuador and Iraq—think that more cuts may be in order, al-Luiebi said.

Asked by Reuters if Iraq would push for additional 1-percent cut at the November meeting, the minister said, “there are proposals and there are ideas… I don’t think it will be implemented but it will be considered and studied.”

Al-Luiebi appears to be on the same page as the other big OPEC producers, which feel that the market is rebalancing, and think it is simply too early to say that it is necessary to take additional measures to stabilize it.

“The market now is reaching a good position of stabilization. There is an improvement in the market, so let us wait how the improvement gets from now until March. It is very early now to judge and decide what to do,” al-Luiebi told Reuters.

The minister also boasted that Iraq had reached its assigned target to cut 260,000 bpd, over complying with its pledge.

At the beginning of this month, al-Luiebi said that Iraq was producing 4.32 million bpd of oil, below the 4.351 million bpd ceiling it had pledged in the production cut deal.

Under OPEC’s agreement, Iraq pledged to cut 210,000 bpd and keep output at 4.351 million bpd, but has so far failed to show it has fully complied with its promise. In August, Iraq produced 4.448 million bpd, down by 23,100 bpd over July, but still off the 4.351 million bpd mark, according to OPEC’s secondary sources.