Iraqi Prime Minister Orders Oil Companies to Operate Around the Clock

Iraqi PM's Media Office

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi's meeting regarding rising oil outputd.

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi on Monday directed oil companies to operate around the clock, stressing the need to accelerate practical measures to rehabilitate and develop oil pipelines and strengthen Iraq’s export capacity.

According to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Media Office obtained by PUKMEDIA, al-Zaidi chaired an expanded meeting of the Ministry of Oil attended by the ministers of finance and oil, the director of the Prime Minister’s Office, and the ministry’s undersecretaries and directors general.

The meeting reviewed the ministry’s plans and strategies for addressing the repercussions of the Strait of Hormuz crisis, as well as proposed measures to ensure the continued flow of Iraqi oil exports and increase export capacity.

Discussions also focused on policies and possible solutions to mitigate the impact of the crisis, maintain oil exports and strengthen alternative export routes. The meeting stressed the need to accelerate practical measures to rehabilitate and develop oil pipelines and to contract international companies to market and sell Iraqi crude.

Al-Zaidi directed oil companies to operate around the clock to ensure sustainable production and increase production and export levels. He also called for the current circumstances to be turned into an opportunity to strengthen Iraq’s oil infrastructure and expand its export outlets.

Iraq, OPEC’s second-largest oil producer, relies on crude exports for around 90% of federal revenues, leaving its finances highly vulnerable to disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly one-fifth of global oil supplies normally pass.

Oil Minister Basim Mohammed Khudair Al-Abadi said Iraq exported around 49 million barrels of crude in July, while daily shipments have averaged approximately 2 million barrels per day since the beginning of August, the highest level recorded since the start of the regional crisis.



PUKMEDIA