Iraq may seek exemption from OPEC oil cuts to boost own output
Baku, April 22, AZERTAC
Iraq may seek to be exempt from a deal between oil exporters to reduce global supply in order to support crude prices and ask to boost its own output, the leader of the nation's Shi'ite ruling coalition Ammar al-Hakim told Reuters.
OPEC is due to meet in May to decide on an extension of supply curbs decided late last year to lift prices.
Speaking in Cairo, Hakim cautioned that Baghdad could ask to be exempted from taking part in the supply curbs as the nation needed its oil income to fight Islamic State.
"Given these sensitive circumstances, it is the right of Iraq to hope for an exemption by the other OPEC member states and have an opportunity to increase its production," Hakim, an influential cleric, said in an interview late on Wednesday.
"But we are with the principle of reducing the overall OPEC supply to lift prices."
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