Iraq’s plan to increase oil output this year will go ahead, with exports running in January at a record level and unaffected by Iran’s return to the market, Iraqi Oil Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi told Reuters on Thursday. Iraq, OPEC’s second-largest producer, expects output from the country's southern region to increase by up to 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) this year to over 4 mi
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Iraq is ready to take part in an extraordinary OPEC meeting and even reduce its fast-growing oil output if all OPEC and non-OPEC members agree - a deal which at this stage seems elusive, the country's finance minister said on Wednesday. Hoshiyar Zebari also told Reuters in an interview there are "encouraging signs" that crude prices could rebound this spring on lower output fro
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Iraq has agreed a $328.8 million deal with General Electric (GE.N) to boost electricity production capacity by 1,000 megawatts (MW), an electricity ministry spokesman said on Monday. Though Iraq is a major OPEC oil producer, the country faces chronic electricity shortages, with its fragile grid struggling meet demand after years of war, sanctions and neglect. Many areas lack ac
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WASHINGTON, January 26, 2016— The World Bank is lowering its 2016 forecast for crude oil prices to $37 per barrel in its latest Commodity Markets Outlook report from $51 per barrel in its October projections. The lower forecast reflects a number of supply and demand factors. These include sooner-than-anticipated resumption of exports by the Islamic Republic of Iran, greater re
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WASHINGTON — More than 16 months after Iraqi and Kurdish forces reclaimed Mosul Dam from Islamic State fighters, the structure faces a new threat: the danger that it may collapse because of insufficient maintenance, overwhelming major communities downstream with floodwaters. In the worst-case scenario, according to State Department officials, an estimated 500,000 people could b
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