Iraq to export 2.8 mil b/d crude in June, commits to OPEC+ cuts: minister

Dubai — Iraq, OPEC's second-largest oil producer, expects to export 2.8 million b/d of crude oil in June as it seeks to firmly commit to the OPEC+ cuts after it failed to comply with its quota in May, the country's oil minister Ihsan Ismaael told al-Sharqiya TV on June 14.

The country also plans to reduce domestic crude consumption by switching to gas as feedstock to produce electricity, Ihsan Ismaael told the private TV network.

Ismaael reiterated Iraq's commitment to the OPEC+ production cuts, although the country had flouted its quota in the past.

"It is in our interest to commit as OPEC's second largest producer," Ismaael said. "Non-commitment is a slippery slope."

Iraq pumped 4.213 million b/d of crude oil in May, above its OPEC+ quota of 3.592 million b/d and exported 3.63 million b/d, oil marketer SOMO said on June 7.

OPEC and its allies, including Russia, agreed on June 6 to roll over their 9.6 million b/d in collective production cuts through July, to help bolster the market as it emerges from the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Under the deal, Angola, Iraq, Kazakhstan and Nigeria committed to compensate for their lack of compliance in May with extra cuts below their quotas in July, August and September.