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By John Lee.

Eight key members of the OPEC+ alliance, including Iraq, have agreed to increase production starting in May 2025, citing healthier global market fundamentals and a positive outlook.

At a virtual meeting held on 3 April 2025, the countries reviewed market conditions and confirmed they would implement a 411,000 barrels per day (bpd) production increase in May. This figure comprises three scheduled monthly increments, including the one originally planned for May, and is part of the gradual reversal of the 2.2 million bpd voluntary cuts announced in April and November 2023.

In a statement, OPEC said this adjustment aligns with the decision made on 5 December 2024, reaffirmed on 3 March 2025, to return production gradually and flexibly. The group reiterated that these increases could be paused or reversed depending on evolving market dynamics.

Full statement from OPEC:

Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, UAE, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria, and Oman reaffirm commitment to market stability on healthier oil market outlook and adjust production upward

The eight OPEC+ countries, which previously announced additional voluntary adjustments in April and November 2023, namely Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, UAE, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria, and Oman met virtually on 3 April 2025, to review global market conditions and outlook.

In view of the continuing healthy market fundamentals and the positive market outlook, and in accordance with the decision agreed upon on 5 December 2024, subsequently reaffirmed on 3 March 2025, to start a gradual and flexible return of the 2.2 million barrels per day voluntary adjustments starting from 1 April 2025, the eight participating countries will implement a production adjustment of 411 thousand barrels per day, equivalent to three monthly increments, in May 2025, as detailed in the table below. This comprises the increment originally planned for May in addition to two monthly increments. The gradual increases may be paused or reversed subject to evolving market conditions. This flexibility will allow the group to continue to support oil market stability. The eight OPEC+ countries also noted that this measure will provide an opportunity for the participating countries to accelerate their compensation.

The eight countries reaffirmed their commitment to the voluntary production adjustments agreed at the 53rd JMMC meeting on 3 April 2024. They also confirmed their intention to fully compensate any overproduced volume since January 2024 and to submit updated front-loaded compensation plans to the OPEC Secretariat by 15 April 2025 which will be posted on the Secretariat's website.

The eight OPEC+ countries will hold monthly meetings to review market conditions, conformity, and compensation. The eight countries will meet on the 5th of May to decide on June production levels.

(Source: OPEC Secretariat)

By John Lee.

Iraq's Minister of Electricity, Eng. Ziyad Ali Fadel, has addressed key energy issues in interviews with Al Arabiya and Al Hadath, outlining government efforts to secure power supply and mitigate potential summer shortages.

Key points include:

• The halt of exemptions has affected 800 MW of electricity imports from Iran, impacting Diyala, Maysan, and Basra.
• The Ministry has not received official notification regarding the suspension of Iranian gas imports, with discussions ongoing.
• Alternative measures include fuel oil (kaz), regional power grid connections, solar power projects, and the establishment of a floating LNG terminal.
• Turkmenistan is being considered as an alternative gas supplier, as it is not subject to sanctions.
• A floating platform for LNG imports will be installed in the Gulf by June to supply power plants.
• Turkey has agreed to double electricity supply via the Iraq-Turkey interconnection to 600 MW starting mid-May.
• Iraq-Kuwait grid connection is 90% complete, with landmine clearance in Fao delaying finalization.
• Renewable energy projects under development:
  • 1,000 MW solar by TotalEnergies (Basra)
  • 750 MW by PetroChina (Muthanna)
  • 500 MW by Bilal Iraq (Babel & Karbala)
  • Additional 15,000 MW planned using combined-cycle and solar technologies.
• Iraq is shifting towards 15,000 MW of crude oil-based power generation, similar to Saudi Arabia's model.
• Major agreements planned:
  • 24,000 MW with GE (USA)
  • 10,000 MW with Siemens (Germany)
• Iraq is executing its largest-ever power grid expansion, upgrading transmission lines and substations to stabilize electricity supply.

(Source: Ministry of Electricity)

By John Lee.

Iraq has improved slightly in the Economist Intelligence Unit's annual Democracy Index.

Rising two places to 126th out of 167 countries, Iraq is classified as "authoritarian", and scores lower than countries such as Jordan, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Zimbabwe, but higher than Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Iran.

The report finds that Iraq has a "superficial democratic facade".

The Democracy Index provides a snapshot of the state of democracy worldwide based on five categories: electoral process and pluralism, functioning of government, political participation, political culture, and civil liberties.

Based on its scores on a range of indicators within these categories, each country is then classified as one of four types of regime: "full democracy", "flawed democracy", "hybrid regime" or "authoritarian regime".

The full report can be downloaded here.

(Source: EIU)

By John Lee.

The Iraqi Ministry of Oil has reaffirmed its full commitment to the OPEC+ production agreement, including additional voluntary cuts and compensation for excess production.

In a statemet on Monday, the Ministry will implement necessary measures to ensure compliance, including submitting an updated plan to offset previous overproduction.

This commitment was reiterated during a joint phone call between:

• Hayan Abdul Ghani Abdul Zahra, Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister for Energy Affairs and Minister of Oil.
• HRH Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman Al Saud, Saudi Energy Minister.
• Alexander Novak, Russian Deputy Prime Minister.
• Haitham Al Ghais, OPEC Secretary-General.

According to what the Ministry described as data issued by secondary sources approved by OPEC, Iraq's crude oil production in January 2025 stood at 3.999 million barrels per day (bpd), reflecting adherence to agreed production levels.

Key Developments:

• Iraq will continue efforts to compensate for past overproduction.
• The government is preparing for the resumption of Kurdistan oil exports via the Iraq-Turkey pipeline.
• Iraq remains committed to its OPEC+ voluntary production cut obligations.

The Ministry of Oil emphasised the crucial role of OPEC+ agreements in stabilising global oil markets and highlighted the importance of collective efforts from all member states to maintain market balance.

On Saturday, Baghdad confirmed the completion of procedures for resuming the export of oil produced in the Kurdistan Region through Ceyhan Port, in accordance with the mechanisms outlined in the Budget Law and its amendments and within Iraq's OPEC production quota.

(Source: Iraqi Ministry of Oil)

By John Lee.

Opensignal has announced the launch of the Global Network Excellence Index, which it describes as a new benchmark that ranks markets around the world on the mobile network experience they provide.

According to data from Opensignal:

• Among large land mass countries, Iraq ranks in 41^st place for network excellence. This places it behind Saudi Arabia (20^th place), Morocco (36^th place) and Egypt (40^th place).
• Iraq ranks 21^st for 4G Download Speed among large land mass countries: within the Middle East and North Africa region, this ranking places Iraq third behind Oman and Saudi Arabia, and ahead of Morocco, Iran, Egypt, Algeria, Libya and Yemen.
• Among large land mass countries, Iraq is ranked 65^th for 4G / 5G Availability: This metric measures how often users connect to a modern network. However, Iraq ranked in 39^th place for Excellent Consistent Quality, which evaluates how reliably networks support demanding applications such as video streaming, video calls, and gaming, ensuring a seamless user experience.

The Global Network Excellence Index provides a country-level ranking of mobile network excellence based on direct measures of user experience, evaluating countries across three core pillars: 4G / 5G Availability, Excellent Consistent Quality and 4G / 5G Download Speed.

You can access the full index here.

(Source: Opensignal)

By John Lee.

Qatar-based Ooredoo Group has partnered with France's Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN) to build the Fibre in Gulf (FIG) submarine cable.

The cable, connecting Qatar, Oman, the UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Iraq, will have a capacity of up to 720Tbps with 24 fibre pairs.

Ooredoo said in a statement that the project will provide all GCC countries a low latency, shorter and secure route to a new corridor connecting Europe.

Ooredoo is the parent company of Iraqi mobile phone company Asiacell.

(Source: Ooredoo)

By John Lee.

A leading Iraqi economist has predicted that US President Donald Trump's pressure to reduce oil prices will harm the Iraqi economy, and could lead to a devaluation of the Iraqi dinar.

In a post on Facebook, Dr Nabil Jaafar Al-Marsoumi, former Professor of Economics at Basra University, and member of the Advisory Board of the Iraqi Economists Network (IEN), said:

"Following Trump's demand for Saudi Arabia and OPEC to reduce oil prices to provide cheap energy and expedite the end of the Russian-Ukrainian war, OPEC Plus's abandonment of its cuts amounting to 4.650 million barrels will be implemented within a few weeks. Oil prices will decrease as Trump planned, and oil revenues for oil-exporting countries will decline.

"However, the greatest harm will be to Iraq. Although its production will increase by approximately 220,000 barrels per day, the drop in oil prices to 60 dollars will put Iraqi finances in severe distress, as it financially means a reduction in Iraqi oil revenues by about 15 billion dollars, which will need to be secured through domestic borrowing.

"If prices drop to 50 dollars, devaluing the dinar will become one of the important options to increase public revenues denominated in dinars to reduce the deficit gap in the general budget!"

(Source: Nabil Jaafar Al-Marsoumi)

By John Lee.

Saudi Arabia cafe chain Kyan Café has opened its first branch in Iraq.

The outlet in Basra will initially open from 2:00pm until midnight, but has plans to extend this to 24 hours.

It is Kyan's 356th store worldwide.

(Source: Kyan Café)

By John Lee.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has issued its Gas Market Report, Q1-2025, in which it describes Iraq's progress towards reducing gas flaring as, "slow but steady."

It says:

"In the Middle East the role of natural gas in the power sector has been increasing in the past decade and oil-to-gas switching continued in 2024, driven by Iran, Iraq, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia,"

adding:

"Iraq has made slow but steady progress towards reducing gas flaring since the early 2010s, but in mid-2024 it still captured only 65% of its gross natural gas output while flaring away 12 bcm annually.

"In early 2024 Iraq committed to reducing crude burning for power generation from May to December 2024 to meet OPEC+ obligations and the government-owned South Gas Company announced an accelerated gas utilisation plan to maximise gas capture volumes and reduce power sector oil use by 2028."

Click here to view the full report.

(Source: IEA)

By John Lee.

Prime Minister Mohammed S. Al-Sudani met this week with Fahd bin Mohammed Al-Turki, Chairman of the Arab Monetary Fund, to discuss closer collaboration.

• Strategic Partnership and Support: Iraq is committed to supporting the Arab Monetary Fund's activities, emphasizing its role as a founding member and major contributor to the Fund.
• Development Goals: The Iraqi Prime Minister stressed the importance of the Fund's contributions to Iraq's reconstruction and infrastructure development.
• Capacity Building: Iraq seeks expanded participation of Iraqi professionals in the Fund's activities and stronger connections with its financial institutions.
• Regional Collaboration: The Arab Monetary Fund's role in coordinating financial, monetary, and trade policies across the Arab region was highlighted as a key factor in promoting shared regional interests.
• Fund's Commitment: The Chairman of the Arab Monetary Fund reaffirmed the Fund's dedication to supporting Iraq's developmental programs and fostering cooperation in financial and economic sectors.
• Focus on Infrastructure: Both parties acknowledged infrastructure projects as a priority area for development and investment.

Full statement from the Prime Minister's Office:

Prime Minister Mohammed S. Al-Sudani Receives Chairman of the Arab Monetary Fund

Prime Minister Mohammed S. Al-Sudani received today, Thursday, the Chairman of the Arab Monetary Fund, Mr. Fahd bin Mohammed Al-Turki.

At the beginning of the meeting, the Prime Minister congratulated Mr. Alturki on assuming his new role as Chairman of the Fund, wishing him success in his mission.

The Prime Minister affirmed the government's support for the Fund's activities, highlighting Iraq's role as a founding member and the second-largest contributor to the Fund after Saudi Arabia.

Prime Minister Al-Sudani expressed Iraq's aspiration for greater cooperation with the Fund and emphasized the importance of its contributions to Iraq's reconstruction and development efforts, particularly in infrastructure projects. He also expressed Iraq's desire for the Fund to expand the participation of Iraqi professionals in its activities and strengthen ties with Iraqi financial institutions.

The Prime Minister stressed the Arab Monetary Fund's pivotal role in fostering stronger Arab relations by coordinating financial, monetary, and trade policies, thereby promoting shared interests across the region.

For his part, Mr. Alturki expressed his gratitude for the warm reception and reiterated the Arab Monetary Fund's commitment to supporting Iraq and participating in its developmental programs. He also emphasized the Arab Monetary Fund's eagerness to enhance constructive cooperation in the financial and economic sectors.

(Source: PMO)