Mohammed Saadoon, Iraq's country representative to Opec and deputy general manager of state oil marketer SOMO, said in an interview that Opec's second-largest producer plans to increase oil export capacity at its southern ports by 1 million to 1.5 million barrels a day by 2025, starting in 2023.

The planned increase involves the rehabilitation of the Khor Al-Amaya port in southern Iraq and the offshore pipeline, Saadoon said, adding that the southern port's export capacity will increase by 150,000 BPD to 250,000 BPD starting in 2023. The oil ministry is also pursuing plans to increase oil production to between 5 million and 5.5 million BPD by 2028, Saadoon said. Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Sudani previously said the country produces 4.652 million barrels of oil per day.

Mr. Soudani said earlier in the middle of this month that Iraq was seeking to keep oil prices at current levels to ensure market stability as the country rebuilt. Soudani pointed to Iraq's plans to increase its oil production capacity and attract global companies to the country. Soudani said he would honor all agreements signed by the previous government with international oil companies, including a $27 billion package with Total Energy to increase oil and gas production and reduce power outages. Editor/Xu Shengpeng