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Iraq's oil minister on Sunday played down the prospect of a surge in its oil production, saying the OPEC crude producers' cartel was not likely to discuss setting production quotas for several years.
Observers had said ministers at Tuesday's meeting would have one eye on Iraq's recovering industry and its ambitious plans to ramp up its production to levels that could rival OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia.
Iraqi Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahristani told reporters on Sunday he did not expect to tackle the question of production allowances for Iraq, but stressed its special situation as a country recovering from war.
"I don't expect any discussion on setting quotas or even discussing till we reach the point when there is a significant increase of Iraqi production," likely in two or three years, he said.
Iraq is currently exempt from the cartel's system of quotas, which seek to limit production by members in order to stabilise prices.
"Countries' needs for reconstruction should be one of the top criteria in addition to countries' capacities of production," Shahristani added.
"In the case of Iraq we have been deprived of the fair share of the world market and this should be taken into account."
