Massive oil projects are expected to nearly double Iraq’s crude production to 8 million barrels per day (mmb/d) in the next few years, an Iraqi deputy has said.

Contracts awarded to a number of foreign companies this month to develop oil and gas sites in various parts of the OPEC member will add nearly 250,000 bpd to the country’s output of around 4.23 mmb/d, said Zainab Musawi, a member of Parliament’s Oil and Gas Committee.

Musawi told Iraq’s Al-Forat news agency that 13 of the awarded sites are exploratory fields that could largely boost Iraq’s proven oil deposits of about 145 billion barrels.

“Iraq has an ambition to increase its oil production capacity to around 8 mmb/d in the next few years through large development projects,” she said.

(Writing by Nadim Kawach; Editing by Anoop Menon)

(anoop.menon@lseg.com)

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