BAGHDAD, Oct 24 (Reuters) - Foreign oil companies willincrease their investments to increase output in Basra, the mainproducing region of Iraq, state-owned South Oil Company DeputyDirector General Salah Mahdi told Reuters on Monday.
The companies'investment budget increased to $7.29 billionin 2017, from $6.6 billion in 2016, he said on the sidelines ofa CWC conference in Beirut.
The companies that operate in southern Iraq are BP,Shell, Lukoil, Exxon, Eni,CNPC
"Our plans are to encourage foreign companies to raiseproduction for next year," he said. "We are planning to boostoutput for next year and maximize revenues".
Iraq's oil ministry has just launched a new round of biddingto develop 12 small to medium-sized oil fields straddling threeprovinces - four in Basra, five in Misan and three in theCentral province, according to a tender document on theministry's website.
Iraqi officials said in August the nation's oil outputshould increase next year by 250,000-350,000 barrels per day ascompanies improve yields from existing fields in the southernregion that produces most of the nation's crude.
Iraqi Oil Minister Jabar Ali al-Luaibi said onSunday the country should be exempt from OPEC crude outputrestrictions as it needs the income to fight the war against Islamic State.
OPEC's second-largest producer, Iraq's output could riseslightly this month, from September's 4.774 million barrels perday, according to state-oil marketer SOMO. Last month's totalincludes 546,000 bpd from the Kurdish self-rule region (KRG) ofnorthern Iraq. (Reporting by Ahmed Rasheed; Writing by Maher Chmaytelli;Editing by Greg Mahlich)
