The Iraqi oil minister says the country's oil output has risen to more than 2.6 million barrels per day which is the country's highest production level for two decades, Press TV reported.
"Today, our production is over 2.6 million barrels per day," AFP quoted Iraq's new Oil Minister Abdulkarim al-Luaybi as saying on Monday.
"This figure has not been reached for more than 20 years," he added, DPA reported.
Luaybi has taken over the ministerial job from Hussein al-Shahristani who has become the deputy prime minister in Iraq's new government.
"We know that developing Iraq's economy and providing funds for finishing projects and providing jobs for people all depend on revenue from oil," Luaybi went on to say.
He further said the ministry would "reactivate the role of the exploration teams and geological surveys in order to strengthen national production," and also emphasized previously-announced plans to expand oil sector infrastructure.
These plans include "projects to expand oil and gas pipelines, and make good use of the gas that comes out with the extraction of oil," he said.
"New large refineries" will also be established, Luaybi said, adding that "Iraq will be transformed into a country that exports" petroleum products.
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