Swelling oil production in Iraq will be boosted by a $130 billion spend over the next five years.
Following decades of war and economic sanctions, Iraq is set to invest heavily in the country’s upstream sector to help raise production capacity to nine million barrels a day. Iraq is forecasting $600bn in revenue from the latest capital spend.
In the short-term, Iraq will allocate $18 billion to raise natural gas output and $25 billion to expand refinery capacity.
Last year, production rose by 24%, with Iraq overtaking Iran to become the biggest producer after Saudi Arabia in OPEC. Iraq’s fifth oil exploration licensing round will be held in mid-2013 and will cover 10 oil blocks
National output has risen by six percent to 3.14 million barrels a day in February with exports reaching 2.5mb/d. The rise in oil production includes 100,000b/d in May for the Majnoon oil field with this figure expected to double by the end of the year.
According to BP statistics, which also include Canada’s oil sands, Iraq holds the fifth-largest crude reserves worldwide.
Meanwhile Libya's oil and gas sector has made an unexpected recovery with oil production climbing back to nearly 90 percent of prewar production levels. The national oil company and major foreign firms have helped to ensure production of 1.4 million barrels a day in recent months.