Alaa al-Yassiri, director general of SOMO, at his office in April 2022. (STAFF/Iraq Oil Report)
Iraq is in a position to supply more oil to the market in the event of disruption from Russia, but it will take time to bring on new production and any such decision would be made by OPEC-plus, Alaa al-Yassiri said in an interview.
As the director general of the State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO), Yassiri is responsible for overseeing the sale of Iraqi crude to the international market, and the recent rise in global oil prices has brought in record revenues, which in March exceeded $11 billion.
In addition to speaking about Iraq's export potentail, Yassiri discussed in-kind crude payments to Russian oil companies, diversifying Iraq's export routes, and a strategic pipeline to link southern oil production with northern exports via Turkey.
A full transcript of the interview is available below for subscribers.
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