Enormous reserves volumes are drawing interest in Iraq. A recent delegation examined a field in production as part of a mission to determine investment potential. According to IHS CERA senior director Bhushan Bahree, OPEC might well find its quotas being squeezed once Iraq begins producing its potential. During CERA Week in Houston in March 2010, Bahree discussed Iraq's enormous potential, noting that of all of the OPEC countries, Iraq has been a "laggard," but that there is no geological reason for that. The country's outlook for production capacity is about 11 to 12 MMbbl/d in six to seven years. Bahree's prediction is that Iraq will be producing 6 MMbbl/d by 2020 and 8 MMbbl/d by 2025. Iraq awarded leases in 2009 that could account for nearly 10 MMbbl/d in incremental capacity. Of course, the fact that the reserves are in the ground does not mean getting them into production will be easy.
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