Monthly Opec+ output hikes enough to meet demand: Iraq

Monthly Opec+ output hikes enough to meet demand: Iraq

Dubai, 10 March (Argus) — Iraq's state-owned Somo has thrown its weight behind the Opec+ collective's ongoing production regime, a day after contradictory messages from the UAE cast doubt on the group's plans and rattled oil prices.

The 19-member group has faced repeated calls from consumers, led by the IEA, to consider accelerating the pace of its production increases to help reverse the rise in prices. But it has stuck to its guns, and will again next month raise the collective output quota by 400,000 b/d. From May it plans monthly increases of 430,000 b/d, until all the production it cut in 2020 has returned.

"Through the continuous follow-up of what the global market is going through today in terms of developments and variables, particularly with regard to the balance of global supply and demand for crude, Iraq believes that the level of oil exports supplied to the global market is commensurate with the level of global demand," Somo said. "The planned increases from Opec+ are sufficient to address any shortages that may occur in supply."

The Iraqi company's intervention came after a day of conflicting messages from the UAE. The country's ambassador to the US Yousef al-Otaiba first suggested Abu Dhabi could