Iraq Confirms Oil-Output Cut Even as Scheduled Exports Rise

Iraq has reduced its oil production by 160,000 barrels a day and will comply with cuts it agreed to make under an OPEC output deal, Oil Minister Jabbar Al-Luaibi said, even as ship loading data suggested that exports are set to increase next month. The Persian Gulf producer is poised to ship 3.64 million barrels a day of crude oil in February from its ports in southern Basra province, according to a loading program obtained by Bloomberg, more than its December average of 3.51 million barrels a day, which itself was a record high.