BAGHDAD, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Iraq backs extending the OPEC+ agreement to cut the oil production until December 2022, Iraqi Oil Minister Ihsan Abdul-Jabbar Ismail said Sunday.
Iraq also supports increasing the oil production starting August according to the requirements of the oil market, Ismail added, according to a brief statement by the Ministry of Oil.
The Iraqi minister expected the price of crude oil to be fewer than 70 U.S. dollars a barrel until Dec. 2022, the statement said.
Last month, Ismail said the agreement and collective solidarity in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its partners, known as OPEC Plus, contributed to the stability of global oil markets.
The 17th OPEC and non-OPEC ministerial meeting that concluded on June 1 failed to resolve the dispute over the production increase agreement. The OPEC Plus members will resume their negotiations on Monday.
Iraq's economy heavily relies on crude oil export, which accounts for more than 90 percent of the country's revenues. However, the OPEC+ agreement to cut oil production and a plunging price in the oil market affected by the impact of COVID-19 have combined to cause the decline of the country's revenues in the past months. Enditem
