Iraq is seeking an outout quota raise from OPEC as it plans a significant oil output bosst over the next six years. Iraq’s Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi said that Iraq aims to raise its oil production to between 8 million and 10 million barrels per day.
Speaking at the Baghdad Dialog policy conference, al-Zaidi said he had sent a delegation to Saudi Arabia to discuss the proposed oil output boost in Iraq’s OPEC quota. The delegation is headed by Iraq’s ministers of oil and finance and has travelled to Saudi Arabia, OPEC’s de facto leader, for discussions on the country’s production allocation.
Iraq produced around 4 million barrels of oil per day before the outbreak of the Iran war. The country has also been among those most affected by the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran. The blockade followed U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran on 28th February 2026 that led to a regional conflict that engulfed several countries in the region.
OPEC+ Capacity Review Could Shape Future Baselines
The push for an oil output boost is also linked to the ongoing assessment of production capacity across OPEC+. The producer group has appointed Texas-based DeGolyer and MacNaughton to independently assess the maximum sustainable capacities of most of its members, including Iraq.
The consultancy is expected to submit its findings to the OPEC Secretariat at the end of September. Following that assessment, discussions are expected to begin on new production baselines for use from 2027. Baseline negotiations are frequently contentious because higher baselines generally result in larger production allowances, creating an incentive for countries to seek higher baseline levels.
Iraq Plans Additional Export Routes
Alongside its efforts to secure an oil output boost, Iraq is working to expand its crude export network. Al-Zaidi said the country is seeking to increase exports through Turkey’s Ceyhan port while also starting oil exports through Syria’s Baniyas port and Jordan’s Aqaba port. Plans for a pipeline to Syria’s Baniyas are intended to avert future disruptions in Hormuz. According to reports, the project will likely require four years of construction and cost at least $15 billion.
The Iraq-Turkey Pipeline to Ceyhan remains Iraq’s only functioning oil export pipeline and currently carries around 170,000 bpd.
