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* BP eyes lower peak output over time at Rumaila
* Field key to Iraqi growth ambitions
* BP chief says 3.4 mln bpd in Iraqi output "doable" by end2013
* Dudley, in Russia, elected to Rosneft board
By Melissa Akin
ST PETERSBURG, Russia, June 20 (Reuters) - Oil major BP is weighing cuts of more than 1 million barrels per dayin targetted peak output at Iraq's most prolific oilfield,Rumaila, its chief executive said, as Baghdad aims to pump atlower rates so resources will last longer.
"It is something the government has asked us to do," BobDudley said on Thursday in the Russian city of St. Petersburg onthe sidelines of the Rosneft annual general meeting.
Baghdad is lowering plateau production rates at coresouthern oilfields, including Rumaila, in line with a morerealistic target of 9 million barrels per day, versus anoriginal 12 million to be reached by 2017.
But Iraq and Western oil experts say reaching even the 9million rate will be a stretch given infrastructure constraints.
One set of scenarios for Rumaila ranges from 1.7 million-2.4million barrels per day (bpd), while the current target of 2.85million bpd is still "mentioned" but the peaks would differ overtime in different scenarios, Dudley said.
A Rumaila oilfield executive said last month it wouldproduce 1.45 million bpd at the end of this year from currentrates of around 1.4 million.
BP has been in talks about the reduction at Rumaila sincelast year. In December, oil ministry and industry sources saidBP was close to reaching a deal to cut Rumaila's target tobetween 1.8 million and 2.2 million bpd.
Rumaila, which BP operates with China National PetroleumCorp. (CNPC), has estimated reserves of around 17 billionbarrels and produces the largest single contribution to Iraq'stotal output.
Dudley took a seat on Rosneft's board on Thursday after BP'spurchase of a 20 percent stake in the state owned Russian oilproducer, which holds the world's largest crude oil reservesamong listed companies.
Iraq, which in 2009 awarded a series of service contractswith international companies to tap its oilfields, is aiming toproduce 3.4 million bpd by the end of this year, up from around3.1 million bpd now.
"I think it's doable," Dudley said, adding that hitting nextyear's higher output target would depend on infrastructuredevelopments. Iraq wants to produce 4.5 million bpd by the endof 2014.
The ministry of oil has already agreed lower productiontargets for Lukoil at West Qurna-2 and Eni atZubair. Negotiations are continuing with Royal Dutch Shell at Majnoon and Exxon at West Qurna-1.
BP is boosting spending at Rumaila to $2.85 billion thisyear, under a stepped-up drilling programme, after expenditureof $1.9 billion last year.
