Iraq's oil minister said Sunday that Baghdad will consider abiding by Opec quotas once its crude production increases to at least 4 million barrels a day in two to three years.
Hussain al-Shahristani said there is no rush to discuss quotas with other members of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries while Iraq's production level currently at 2.5 million barrels a day remains bellow the country's potential.
"The current production 2.5 million barrels is no match to our potential,' al-Shahristani said in an interview with The Associated Press. "Nobody is really in a rush to discuss (quotas) yet, but once we pass 3.5 or even 4 million barrels a day in two to three years time, we should enter into a very constructive discussion about new market shares.'
Iraq is home to the world's third largest proven reserves of crude. Oil exports account for more than 90 percent of its state revenue.
The country has been struggling to rebuild its oil infrastructure after the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. Years of international sanctions ravaged Iraq's oil industry. Looting, sabotage and perennial security woes during the war battered the sector even more and stunted investor interest.
Last year, Iraq held two bidding rounds and awarded 12 contracts to develop 14 oil fields all but two located in the south of the country.
Al-Shahristani said Iraq hopes to boost its production capacity to 12 million barrels per day by 2017 with the new contracts a level that would put it just shy of Opec kingpin Saudi Arabia's current production capacity.
Al-Shahristani also said the price of oil, currently hovering between $70 and $75 a barrel, is fair.
"For the current market conditions, the price seems to be fair to both consumers and producers," al-Shahristani said. He dismissed concerns over Iraq's ability to significantly raise output and hammer oil prices.
"Our policy is not to maximise our production, but to maximize our revenues,' al-Shahristani said. "We are not going to produce more oil than the market can absorb and therefore force the price of oil down."