Iraq's Kurdistan starts oil exports

BAGHDAD, June 1 (Xinhua) -- Iraq's autonomous region of Kurdistan started
Monday its first oil exports through the country's northern national pipelines.

In a ceremony attended by Iraq's President Jalal Talabani and president of
the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) Massud Barzani, the workers at Taq Taq oil
field in Arbil province turned on the pumps announcing the beginning of first
oil exports from the Kurdish region.

The Kurdish region is exporting the oil via Iraqi pipelines that convey the
Iraqi oil from the northern oilfields of Kirkuk to the Turkish Mediterranean
port of Ceyhan.

"It is a historic day. We are proud of this success, and this achievement
will serve the interests of all Iraqis, particularly the Kurds," Barzani said in
the ceremony.

Iraq's KRG has a large degree of self-rule and has a profound disagreement
with Iraq's central government in Baghdad over oil production deals signed by
the KRG.

However, Iraq has approved that the KRG to export crude oil through its
national pipelines to be marketed by Iraq's State Oil Marketing Organization
(SOMO) and the revenue will be deposited to the federal Iraq account.

Earlier, the KRG said that around 60,000 barrels per day (bpd) will be
exported from the Tawke Field in Duhuk province, and that some 40,000 bpd will
be conveyed by tankers from Taq Taq oil field in Arbil province to the northern
national pipelines.

Khalid Salih, a KRG spokesman, said Monday that his regional government
hopes that it would produce 250,000 bpd by mid-2010 and up to 1 million bpd
within the next two or three years.

Iraqi oil minister says OPEC likely to cut production

Graphics shows the price of crude oil futures in the past 13 months. The price of light, sweet crude oil for March delivery rose 85 cents to settle at 41.17 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Feb. 5, 2009. (Xinhua/Meng Lijing)
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BAGHDAD, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- OPEC members are expected
to decide to cut oil production in March in an attempt to raise oil price to70
U.S. dollars a barrel, Iraqi Oil Minister said on Saturday.

"OPEC members will meet in March, and there is an
intention to decide further cut to raise prices," Hussein al-Shahristani told
reporters at a symposium on oil and gas industry development.

"We expect a cut that the crude prices will be more
than 70 dollars a barrel," Shahristani said in Baghdad's Rasheed Hotel.

However, Shahristani said that the raise of the oil price will be achieved gradually and not necessary in the coming months.

A petrol station in front of the OPEC headquarters is pictured in Vienna October 24, 2008. (Xinhua/Reuters File Photo)
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Shahristani also criticized the red tape in Iraq,
blaming it for the delay of efforts to boost the country's oil production.

He also hoped that Iraq could rapidly achieves oil
sector reconstruction and to form a national oil company, which can conclude oil
deals without waiting for cabinet approval.

Iraq is a member of the Organization of Petroleum
Exporting Countries (OPEC). The organization is not bounding Iraq by its
production quotas because of the country's dilapidated oil infrastructure.

Iraq oil reserve is reportedly to be the world's
third-largest, which needs billions of dollars investment to overhaul its oil
industry infrastructure and increase oil and gas output after decades of wars
and sanctions.