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Jabar al-Luaibi's comments came as OPEC nations are trying to
implement an agreement to curb oil output for the first time
since the 2008 financial crisis, in order to push up crude
prices.
The ministry's statement quoted remarks Luaibi made to a meeting
of Iraq oil industry executives in the southern oil city of
Basra to review the ministry's oilfields' development plans.
It made no mention of the decision by the Organization of the
Petroleum Exporting Countries on Sept. 28 to reduce output to a
range of between 32.50 million barrels per day and 33.0 million
bpd.
OPEC's production stood at around 33.6 million bpd in September,
according to a Reuters survey that put Iraq's output at 4.43
million bpd.
The minister "has affirmed the need to proceed forth with
increasing oil and gas production through enhancing the national
effort and those of the licensed companies for the remainder of
2016 and also for 2017," the statement said.
Foreign companies' oil output targets "should be reached within
the assigned periods," the ministry quoted Luaibi as saying.
The ministry also aims to increase associated gas output by
adding 350 to 450 million cubic feet a day to the nation's
production in 2017, Luaibi said.
Natural gas output levels in Iraq's southern region are tied to
crude production levels as the two are produced from the same
reservoirs.
(Reporting by Maher Chmaytelli; Editing by Susan Fenton)
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