Iraq oil infrastructure needs $50B

Iraq's oil minister, Hussein al-Shahristani, today told Iraq's Al-Sharqiya TV channel that the country will need approximately US$50 billion over the coming five years to repair and upgrade the oil industry, after years of war, sanctions, and a lack of cash.

The money would allow Iraq to increase its oil output to six million b/d from its current production levels of around 2.4 million b/d, while also repairing and modernising the current production facilities and infrastructure, which in many cases is crumbling. Shahristani also again said that the two currently ongoing upstream licensing rounds would be followed by at least two more, in which exploration contracts and contracts for discovered by yet undeveloped fields would be included.