Prime Minister of Iraq Dr. Haider Al-Abbadi received today Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources Eng. Khalid bin Abdul Aziz Al-Falih. During the reception, Al-Falih conveyed Saudi leaders' greetings and their support for Iraq's security, stability and economy and their congratulations on Iraq's security successes. Eng. Al-Falih discussed with the Iraqi Prime Minister the situation of the oil market in the region, ways of opening channels of investment, economic cooperation and contribution to the reconstruction of Iraq, in addition to participating in energy projects and transfer of knowledge and exchange of experiences between the two brotherly countries. Al-Falih also met with his Iraqi counterpart, Oil Minister Jabbar Al-Luaibi, and discussed with him aspects of cooperation between the Kingdom and Iraq in various fields, foremost of which are joint efforts to stabilize oil markets and balance them. Following the meetings, Eng. Al-Faleh held a press conference with his Iraqi counterpart, in which he stressed the importance and place of Iraq in the heart of every Saudi and Arab as one of the main pillars of the Arab and Islamic nations. Al-Falih explained that the meetings touched upon the discussion of enhancing bilateral cooperation between the two countries in the fields of oil, industry, petrochemicals, electricity, minerals, trade and banks, and accelerating the opening of crossing points between the two countries. For his part, Iraqi Oil Minister confirmed his country's agreement to extend the oil production reduction for nine months to come, adding: "We agree with the Kingdom and its directions in the continuation of production cuts agreed to in OPEC for a period of nine months," and praised the strengthening of Iraqi-Saudi relations in the energy field, launched from the Algiers conference last year and has been crowned with great success. Al-Falih said, "After the historic agreement last November, which rebalanced the markets, the oil industry started to recover, but not completely," adding that "the level of oil reserves are still above the required level targeted by the producer group." He said at the press conference, "We agreed after many talks that the best extension is nine months to the end of March 2018.
