Iraq Plans to Increase Oil Production to 8–10 Million Barrels per Day Within Six Years

Iraq plans to significantly increase its oil production to between 8 million and 10 million barrels per day (bpd) over the next six years, Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi said on Friday.

The prime minister said Iraq had sent a delegation led by its oil and finance ministers to Saudi Arabia to seek a higher oil-production quota from OPEC.

Iraq currently produces around 4 million barrels of oil per day, but its oil sector has been severely affected by the regional conflict and disruptions around the Strait of Hormuz.

The country is also preparing to expand its oil-export routes to reduce its dependence on the strategic waterway. Iraq plans to increase exports through Turkey’s Ceyhan port and begin sending crude through Syria’s Baniyas port and Jordan’s Aqaba port.

A proposed pipeline connecting Iraq to Syria could take about four years to build and cost at least $15 billion, according to sources cited by Reuters.

Meanwhile, the Iraq-Turkey pipeline, currently Iraq’s only functioning oil-export pipeline, carries around 170,000 barrels per day to the Ceyhan port.

OPEC+ is also conducting assessments of the maximum sustainable production capacity of member countries, including Iraq. The findings are expected in September and could influence new production baselines from 2027.

Iraq hopes that a higher production quota, combined with new export routes, will allow it to expand its role in the global oil market and protect its exports from future disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz.

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