Iraq Declares Opec Output Rise Unncessary

Iraqi Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani has said that there is no need to increase oil production in the upcoming meeting in September.

Shahristani said that crude reserve levels are higher than they were five years ago and are sufficient to meet the expected increase in oil demand in the near future, Reuters reported.

“In order to have a balance between supply and demand, we in Opec don’t want to drown the global market with crude that no one is buying,” Shahristani told the Al Arabiya news channel.

He said that present oil production is higher than global demand and that he wanted oil producing states to adhere to the production decisions made by Opec.

Last year, Opec decided to cut daily output by 4.2 million barrels to adjust to the steep fall in demand.

The organisation will meet to consider oil output policy on 9 September in Vienna, Austria.