Iraq has asked OPEC to be exempted from oil export cuts in the first quarter of 2021, the oil minister of OPEC’s second-largest producer and the least compliant member of the pact, said on Wednesday.
According to remarks of Iraqi Oil Minister Ihsan Abdul Jabba to local media, as reported by Reuters, Iraq has raised the issue with OPEC at several meetings.
“The minister revealed efforts to exempt Iraq from the agreement to cut exports in OPEC and the subject has been broached with the organisation’s oil ministers in three consecutive meetings,” Iraqi state news agency INA reported.
Iraq relies almost entirely on oil revenues for its government income, so the oil price crash and OPEC+ cuts are making things very difficult for the Iraqi economy and its budget revenues.
Oil revenues are critical to Iraq’s budget income, but in recent months OPEC’s second-largest oil producer has come under pressure from its fellow OPEC+ partners led by Saudi Arabia to stop cheating on their production quotas and finally start complying with the OPEC+ agreement.
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