By: AGBI

Iraq has increased crude exports after the gradual rollback of voluntary output cuts imposed by Opec+, a senior official at the State Organization for Marketing of Oil (Somo) said.

Oil revenues are the primary source of funding for the general budget, the Iraq News Agency reported, quoting Somo director general Ali Nizar Al-Shatari.

Crude prices stand between $65 and $68 a barrel, with the year-to-date average around $70.

Al-Shatari said production will increase by nearly 200,000 barrels per day, translating into “additional revenues worth hundreds of millions of dollars each year”.

Eight members of Opec+ have agreed to lift production from October by 137,000 bpd.

Somo expects exports in September to average between 3.4 million and 3.45 million bpd.

Iraq also plans to reduce levies on oil companies operating in the country, as existing tax laws have “scared off” many foreign operators, tax-reform chief Abdul Hussein Al-Ankabi has said.

In 2010, Iraq’s cabinet approved a tax of 35 percent on all foreign oil companies awarded contracts in Opec’s second-largest exporter of crude.

France’s TotalEnergies has started work on the second development phase at Iraq’s Ratawi oilfield and begun building a seawater treatment plant, marking the final stages of a $27 billion multi-energy project.

Iraq is preparing for parliamentary elections in November.