Kurdistan PM Barzani says Iraq should triple crude oil export capacity

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Kurdistan's Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani said Tuesday Iraq should boost crude oil export capacity to 6 million barrels a day, three times the amount the country is exporting now. "We think Iraq needs to export more oil," Barzani said to reporters after a press conference in Dubai. "Iraq has (the) capacity to export six million barrels a day, but they're happy with two million." On Monday Iraq's oil ministry said the country's oil production and exports have risen to their highest levels since the March 2003 US-led invasion. Iraq's exports reached 2.11 million barrels a day in March while the total output stood at about 2.5 million barrels a day, spokesman Assem Jihad told The Associated Press. The Energy Information Administration, part of the US Energy Department, estimated Iraqi production at about 2.6 million barrels a day in early 2003. Production tapered off just before the US-led invasion, then dropped to below 1.5 million barrels a day, according to the group.