OREANDA-NEWS. Iraq's oil minister Abdel Abdul Mahdi gave a diplomatic welcome to efforts to bring together Opec and non-Opec producers to stabilise oil prices, but his comments echoed those of his Iranian counterpart in that he did not commit Iraq to participation in a proposed output freeze.

The participation of Iraq and Iran in a freeze is crucial to the proposal being successful.

Mahdi and Iran's oil minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh met yesterday in Tehran, where Venezuelan oil minister Eulogio Del Pino, Qatari oil minister and current Opec president Mohammed Saleh al-Sada presented them with details of the plan, hatched in Doha earlier this week along with Russia and Saudi Arabia, to freeze crude output at January levels.

Al-Sada said after the Doha meeting that talks would begin with Opec and non-Opec producers and that the freeze would be implemented if Iran, Iraq and other producing countries agreed to the move.

Mahdi said: "Iraq supports any decision that can help the producers to raise prices and maintain stability between supply and demand," and that he considers the recent round of meetings between Opec and non-Opec producers "a correct step toward organising the production in the global market".

But pointedly he did not mention Iraq's willingness to join the proposed production freeze. Zanganeh struck a similar tone after yesterday's meeting. "Iran will support any action to stabilise the conditions of the market and improve crude oil prices," he said. "While this is the first step, and further steps need to be taken, the start of co-operation between Opec and non-Opec members to improve the state of the market is satisfying, and we support any action to stabilise the market and improve prices."

The plan for an output freeze has been unequivocally backed by Opec members Kuwait and the UAE. The latter's energy minister Suhail Mohamed Faraj al-Mazrouei said today that "freezing production levels by members of Opec and Russia will have a positive impact on balancing future demand based on the current oversupply."

But Iran and Iraq are actively chasing global market share. Iran intended to boost exports by 500,000 b/d within weeks of sanctions being lifted, and by a further 500,000 b/d within six months, and has consistently stated it would not countenance cutting back on production until it has regained its pre-sanctions share of Opec production and the global market.

Exports from Iraq's southern terminals hit a record high of 3.29mn b/d in January, according to the oil ministry. Argus estimates Iraq produced 4.27mn b/d in January, including Kurdish output.