Iraq Must Be Aggressive in Marketing Oil

Iraq must market its oil aggressively, Adnan Janabi, chairman of the oil and gas committee in Iraq 's parliament, said Tuesday, highlighting the challenge increasing supply and lackluster demand present to Iraq in coming years.

"We should follow national policy to serve the interest of Iraq . That means that really we should enter the markets aggressively," he said.

Speaking at a conference in London , Mr. Janabi highlighted the challenges Iraq could face in the coming years if expected increases in non-conventional oil production are realised and demand for oil misses forecasts and warned it should watch the market carefully as it increases production.

"One of the most important things we should be looking for in Iraq is a real serious view of how we look at the marketing strategy of this crude coming into the market," Mr. Janabi said.

He suggested the country should follow a combination of policies; aggressively marketing its oil and seeking to diversify the quality of oil it offers as well as seeking joint interest in refineries.

He added that in the long run Iraq should look to build some spare capacity in order to be able to stabilize prices and increase the flexibility of supply.