Iraq’s Oil Ministry denied on Thursday that Baghdad is considering withdrawing from OPEC, affirming its commitment to the organization as member states move ahead with a review of sustainable production capacity to reassess output baselines.
The ministry stressed that neither the prime minister nor the government has proposed leaving the organization. Instead, it reiterated Iraq’s call for production baselines that reflect members’ sustainable production capacity.
OPEC and its non-OPEC partners have already launched the review in coordination with an independent international consulting firm, under an agreed timetable that includes Iraq. The group has begun gradually restoring previously curtailed production, with all voluntary cuts expected to be phased out over the coming months, a step that the ministry said will contribute to raising Iraq’s production baseline.
The ministry emphasized that production baselines and sustainable capacity are determined through OPEC’s “technical and consensus-based mechanisms,” adding that member states take into account Iraq’s exceptional circumstances —including decades of wars, sanctions, terrorist attacks, and damage to its oil infrastructure— to ensure the country maintains its position as OPEC’s second-largest producer while advancing development and rehabilitation projects across the oil sector, “the backbone of Iraq’s public revenues.”
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Earlier today, a statement attributed to Oil Ministry spokesperson Salim Al-Rikabi indicated that Iraq could reconsider its OPEC membership if the organization did not raise the country’s oil production quota.
Government sources told Shafaq News on Wednesday that Baghdad is weighing higher oil exports beyond OPEC’s production ceiling and could consider leaving the organization if its request for a larger production quota is rejected, with any decision likely after Prime Minister Ali Al-Zaidi’s planned visit to Washington next month.
