Iraqi Oil Minister ‘Adil ‘Abd al-Mahdi is budgeting for oil exports of 3.3mn b/d, including 600,000 b/d from northern federal and Kurdish oil fields, for 2015. Yet the minister is under pressure to boost production and exports even further to help reduce the state deficit.

Iraq’s draft budget has undergone a series of revisions as a result of the continued slide in oil prices. The country’s oil minister ‘Adil ‘Abd al-Mahdi this week appeared before parliament and the monetary committee, where he was informed of the dire need in these current circumstances to increase oil exports as the only means of bolstering the flagging Iraqi economy. (CONTINUED - 1624 WORDS)