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Novak: Disruption of talks on oil production freeze due to Iraq’s stance is unlikely

KRASNOGORSK, October 26. /TASS/. Disruption of talks on oil production freeze because of Iraq’s stance is unlikely, Russia’s Energy Minister Alexander Novak told reporters.

"It is unlikely because I see that OPEC countries are set to finalize the decisions that were announced in Algiers and to reach consensus. It is important to be consistent in decision making, this is also important for the market," he said.

On Tuesday, Venezuela's Oil Minister Eulogio Del Pino told a press conference in Moscow that Iraq should be part of a production freeze agreement but a quota for the country is open for discussion.

Iraq does not rule out possibility of joining freezing of oil production, Oil Minister of Iraq Jabar Ali al-Luaibi said. Iraq is for signing agreement with OPEC member-states that would lead to a rise in oil prices and allow Baghdad to maintain its current level of production, Jabar Ali al-Luaibi said. Earlier he said that the country should be freed from restrictions on oil production because it is in the state of war against the ISIS terrorist group.

In late September, OPEC member-states managed to agree oil production limit of 32.5-33 mln barrels per day at the informal meeting in Algeria.

Earlier it was reported that the consensus reached in Algeria envisages possible exceptions for Iran, which has been recently freed from sanctions, as well as for Nigeria and Libya which experienced a decline in oil production because of war conflicts.