Iraq has expressed confidence that its demand to raise its production quota within the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) will be well received by the organisation, based on what the Ministry of Oil described as a "high-level understanding" among member states regarding the exceptional circumstances the country has endured.
Ministry of Oil spokesman Salim Al Rekabi told the Iraqi News Agency that this understanding "takes into account the exceptional circumstances Iraq has experienced over the past four decades" of wars and conflicts.
The most recent crisis to affect the country was the disruption of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz for more than 100 days, which deprived it of the bulk of its oil revenues, which account for 90% of government income.
The Iraqi position comes ahead of the monthly meeting of the core producing nations of the OPEC+ alliance — which also includes major producers outside the organisation — scheduled for 5 July. The alliance approved in November 2025 a mechanism to review the maximum sustainable production capacity of its members in order to determine quotas starting from 2027, with an independent audit of member states' capacities to be conducted between January and September of this year.
No exit from OPEC
Al Rekabi had denied on 25 June reports circulating in the media that Iraq intended to withdraw from OPEC if its quota was not raised. Iraq is the second-largest producer in the organisation after Saudi Arabia, and the third within OPEC+ after Saudi Arabia and Russia.
According to officials in Baghdad, Iraq is targeting a production level of 5 million barrels per day in the near term and 7 million barrels per day before the end of the decade, compared with a July quota of 4.38 million barrels per day.
The 7 core OPEC+ producing nations — following the United Arab Emirates' exit on 1 May — comprising Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria, and Oman, agreed at their video meeting on 7 June to raise their collective production ceiling for July by 188,000 barrels per day, continuing the process of gradually unwinding the cuts announced in 2023, with the 5 July meeting set to determine output levels for the following month.