Iraq set to defy OPEC and refuse oil production cut
Oil production in Iraq is looking unlikely to be cut after the country’s state owned oil marketing company said it would defy OPEC’s agreement.
The move has led to a fall in oil prices at the start of this week, with OPEC due to meet on November 30 to reportedly decide on the extent of the production decrease. Iraq is the group’s second largest oil producer, second only to Saudi Arabia, meaning any agreement would be difficult to conclude without the support of a major player.
Falah al-Amri, the head of Iraq's State Oil Marketing Company fuelled the uncertainty by saying: "We are not going back in any way, not by OPEC not by anybody else.”
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) was founded in Baghdad, with the signing of an agreement in September 1960 by five countries - Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela.
The group now also includes Qatar, Indonesia, Libya, the UAE, Algeria, Nigeria, Ecuador, Gabon and Angola. The 2016 OPEC World Oil Outlook (WOO) will be presented at a briefing to be held at the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (ADIPEC) 2016 in the UAE. First published in 2007, the WOO provides in-depth review and analysis of the global oil industry, and offers a thorough assessment of various scenarios in the medium- and long-term development of the oil industry.
The 171st (Ordinary) OPEC Meeting on November 30 will be held in Vienna, Austria.
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