Iraq’s Flood Of ‘Cheap Oil’ Could Rock World Markets -- Washington Times
Nation hopes to exceed Saudi Arabia
The U.S. is not the only nation experiencing a renaissance in oil production.
Sidelined for two decades by war, sanctions and political instability, Iraq passed a critical milestone last year by producing 3 million barrels a day of crude oil for the first time since 1990, before the Persian Gulf War, reaching 3.4 million barrels a day by December. Given its access to vast reserves at low costs, Baghdad is poised to play a pivotal role in determining whether the world’s growing thirst for oil drives up fuel prices to debilitating levels in coming years.
“Iraq has a potential as a game-changer” in the volatile global oil market, said Maria van der Hoeven, executive director of the Paris-based International Energy Agency (IEA). Already, she noted, Iraq has moved up to be the world’s third-largest oil exporter and is now on a path to be much more, becoming a “strategic source of world oil supply” in the years ahead. Iraq even has hopes of supplanting Saudi Arabia as the globe’s biggest oil producer.
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Update: Iraq oil exports rise to 2.359 million barrels per day in January -- Business Recorder
My Comment: It is amazing that even with all the violence, Iraq's oil exports continue to grow. I guess everyone needs to make money.