Iraq Plans To Triple Oil Production By 2011

An Iraqi oil pipeline burns after an insurgent attack in February (epa) 13 December 2005-- Iraqi Oil Minister Ibrahim Bahr al-Ulum has said his country plans to raise its oil production capacity to as much as 6 million barrels per day by 2011, up from the current output of around 2 million.

Al-Ulum said on 12 December that initially, the focus will be on boosting production from existing fields, then Iraq would embark on developing new fields.

He was speaking to reporters in Kuwait where he was attending an OPEC oil producers' meeting.

The minister said security for thousands of kilometers of pipelines, which have been the target of attacks by insurgents, has improved in southern Iraq, where there has not been an attack in 11 months.

He said the ministry has a new plan to deal with repeated attacks in Iraq's north, and this will be implemented after the country's 15 December legislative elections.

(AFP)