The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) officials said Monday they believe oil prices will rebalance soon, which could mean the countries aim to continue producing oil, with Iraq leading the way.
If OPEC continues pumping oil, then Iraq — which produced more barrels of oil than all other oil producing nations in 2015 — would indubitably keep its spigots open, too.
Iraq’s southern fields could reach production levels as high as 4 million barrels per day, an anonymous Iraqi oil official told Reuters Monday. The Shia-dominated country has previously produced 3.7-3.8 million barrels of oil per day from its southern fields.
Oil prices have tumbled, dropping from a high of $100 a barrel in 2014, to a ten-year low of $28 a barrel in 2016.
Below is a graph adding context to Iraq’s influence on oil prices.
Graph showing oil peaking in Iraq, as Iran prepares to up its oil outputs/Image: Peak Oil Barrel
Follow Chris on Facebook and Twitter.
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.