OPEC+ Pressures Iraq to Take Deeper Cuts

Iraq made its strongest commitment yet to implement deep cuts in crude production after the country’s oil minister and his Saudi counterpart held a phone call late Saturday.
OPEC’s second-biggest producer -- and a long-time laggard in meeting oil-output quotas -- has faced mounting pressure to boost its compliance as the group’s patience wears thin.
The country failed to meet its production-cut target in May and June, and removed just 11,000 barrels a day last month, according to tanker-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg.
The two countries issued a joint statement -- a rare move until recently -- in which Oil Minister Ihsan Abdul Jabbar pledged that Iraq will cut output by an extra 400,000 barrels a day in August and September. 
That’s on top of a previous commitment to slash 850,000 barrels a day in each month. He spoke to Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman late on Thursday.
Delivering these “compensation cuts” would assign Baghdad a target of 3.4 million barrels a day for this month and next, well below the 3.79 million that a Bloomberg survey estimates it pumped in July.
 “The two ministers stressed that efforts by OPEC+ countries towards meeting production cuts and the extra cuts under the compensation regime will enhance oil market stability, help accelerate the rebalancing of global oil markets and send a constructive signal to the market,” the joint statement read.