OPEC must maintain output: Iraq

OPEC must maintain output: Iraq

BAGHDAD: Iraq will ask OPEC to maintain crude production ceilings when the cartel's oil ministers meet in Vienna on June 26, the official INA news agency reported Saturday.

The Iraqi delegation to Vienna "will warn against any rise in production because that will increase pressure on prices," INA said.

The agency said crude prices had already "reached their minimum ceiling" of the US$22-28 price mechanism adopted by OPEC to regulate output.

With prices weakening, OPEC ministers have all but ruled out any increase in oil output at Wednesday's meeting.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries slashed output last year to rescue prices from a post-Sept. 11 slump below $17 a barrel.

OPEC has said it might boost oil output later this year if Iraq was forced to reduce exports because of a stricter pricing policy introduced under the UN sanctions regime against Baghdad. -- AFP