Abadi Adviser To NINA: OPEC's Decision To Freeze Oil Production Should Exclude Iraq

BAGHDAD / NINA / The Economic Affairs adviser of the Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, Mudhher Mohammed Salih called on the government to demand the rights of Iraq's oil production to continue and not to stop at a certain point and to be excepted from OPEC's decision to freeze production. Saleh told the National Iraqi News Agency / NINA / that "OPEC's decision to freeze oil production at 33.5 million barrels a day is injustice to Iraq's right to continue the production," explaining that "Iraq over 30 years has stopped production and there were other states took Iraq's share of OPEC, and the government must constantly claim oil production." He pointed out that "Iraq is passing through exceptional circumstances as being suffers from great financial crisis due to lower oil prices and the costs of the war against Daesh in addition to that most Iraq's oil fields were destroyed by terrorist acts." He added, "The current Iraq's production is 4.2 million barrels a day, and we have a deficit in the refined oil and our need for refineries to refine 750,000 barrels, indicating to a large deficit in oil refineries and we must increase production to meet the needs of refineries at least." It is mentioned that OPEC reached late last month to "historic agreement" on reducing oil production to a level between / 32.5 to 33 / million bpd. OPEC estimates its current production at 33.24 million barrels per day. It is expected that the organization agrees on the production of each Member State's levels at its meeting in Vienna on 20 November next. / End