Iran wary of Iraqi plans to increase oil exports

Though its own exports are limited by international sanctions, Iran has criticized Iraq’s intentions to fill the market gap by increasing its own oil exports.
Policemen check oil pipelines during a patrol in Shueiba refinery in Iraq's southern province of Basra August 26, 2010. Baghdad has signed multi-billion deals with oil firms to boost output capacity to 12 million barrels a day in seven years, rivalling top oil exporter Saudi Arabia. That could give Iraq the money it needs to rebuild after decades of war, sanctions and economic degradation. But everything depends on whether the OPEC member can secure its vital oilfields, refineries and other infrastructure a
Policemen check oil pipelines during a patrol in Shueiba refinery in Iraq's southern province of Basra, Aug. 26, 2010. - REUTERS/Atef Hassan
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Aysar Jabber
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BAGHDAD — Iraq’s aspirations to increase its oil exports to close to 7 million barrels per day by 2017 drew criticism from the Iranian Ministry of Petroleum. Iranian Petroleum Minister Bijan Namdar Zangeneh regarded the move, which seeks to make up for the lack of oil exports from his country as a result of sanctions, as “absolutely unfriendly.”

The Iranian Embassy in Baghdad concurred with the opinion of the petroleum minister.

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