IEA
official says unrest overshadows Iraqi oil production
AFP
PRAGUE
Petroleumworld.com
02 23 06
An International Energy Agency (IEA) official said at a conference
in Prague on Wednesday that the IEA does not believe Iraq can
boost oil production to predicted levels owing to unrest in the
country.
"We do not think that it is possible in the absence of security
and order for major oil companies to come to invest in Iraq,"
the chief economist of the Paris-based organisation, Fatih Birol,
said in a speech on the opening day of the conference "Energy
Security - The NATO Forum on Energy Security Technology".
Birol also said that "we will face tighter energy markets
and higher prices for years to come", adding that the world
faced a "troubled energy picture".
Iraqi oil production, currently standing at about 1.6-1.7 million
barrels a day, could rise to 3.0 million barrels a day by 2010,
but this would still fall short of a forecast by Iraq of 6.0 million
barrels a day, he said.
Birol added that the agency also had doubts about whether foreign
investment would be forthcoming to allow neighbouring Iran to
double its current production of about 4.0 million barrels a day
by 2030, owing to tension surrounding its plans to development
nuclear power.
Saudi Arabia had enough reserves and production capacity to meet
increased world demand by boosting current production of about
11.0 million barrels a day to 18.0 million barrels a day by 2030
but it might choose not do so, Birol said.
AFP
02 22 06
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© 2006 AFP. All rights reserved
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