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Iraq’s crude oil reserves rise to 150 billion barrels

Industry

Iraq has raised its estimated crude oil reserves to 150bn barrels from 143bn barrels, following the discovery of more oil in fields currently being upgraded, as well as from a new field in southern Iraq

Abdul Kareem Luaiby, Iraq’s federal oil minister, said, “The calculations that we have carried  indicated that our oil reserves have increased to 150bn barrels.

“The new reserves come from Dima oil field, located in Missan province on the southeast of Baghdad and from other fields.”

If the new added reserves were confirmed, Iraq, member of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), will rank as the world’s number three in crude oil reserves after Saudi Arabia and Canada.

Luaiby also said Iraq is producing some 3.15mn bpd currently and it is expected to add around 200,000 bpd by the end of this year from fields like Majnoon and Garraf, which are being developed by consortia led by Royal Dutch Shell PLC and Malaysia’s Petronas, respectively.

Iraq’s proven oil reserves do not include those of Kurdistan Region of Iraq.