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Iraq’s Parliamentary Oil, Gas and Natural Resources Committee has called on the Ministry of Oil to start crude exploration across the country to increase reserves and invite global companies to invest in building production capacity.
“The government’s plan includes increasing the production of oil derivatives [refined products] locally and avoiding material losses estimated at $5 billion annually on imports,” the committee deputy head Adnan Al-Jabri told Iraqi News Agency.
He said Iraq’s discovered reserves amount to 154 billion barrels, adding production is slated to resume from the northern oil fields.
Earlier this month, Reuters reported that Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government signed a temporary agreement on 4 April to restart northern oil exports.
(Writing by P Deol; Editing by Anoop Menon)
