Iraq and Libya plan to further raise their crude output to three million bpd by the end of the year and to 1 million barrels per day (bpd) by the end of November, respectively. Iraq's crude output is now 2.9 million barrels per day (bpd), the country's oil ministry spokesman Assem Jihad said. "Iraq's production of oil has reached 2.9 million barrels per day, and production will reach three million barrels per day by the end of the year," Jihad said. "Early next year, exports will be 2.5 million barrels per day," from current export levels of around 2.2 million bpd, he said. Iraqi officials have said the country will be able to produce around 12 million bpd by 2017, though the IMF has said these projections are too high. Higher oil prices and rising exports in the first eight months of the year meant Iraq in that time eclipsed the total amount it earned from crude exports in all of 2010, according to figures published last month. Meanwhile, according to a report from Petroleum Policy Intelligence, Libyan oil production will return to pre-war levels by the middle of next year. This prediction is more optimistic than an estimate from the head of Libya's interim government, who said Monday it would take 12-18 months for production to return to normal. Oil production resumed in eastern Libya in early September, and some oil has been sold onto the international spot market, although exact quantities are unclear. The report said the El-Sharara field deep in the county's western desert could start producing "within the next two weeks" and could reach output of 400,000 barrels per day shortly. It also said more production was imminent at fields operated by Italian oil firm Eni after the company restarted its Abu Attifel site. Some analysts say it could take as long as three years for the OPEC member to reach full output.
