Iraq’s Prime Minister, Haider al-Abadi, said his country intends to boost crude oil production and will not restrain output as part of any possible agreement among member’s of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to freeze production and lift prices, according to Reuters.

In related news, the country’s Minister of Oil, Jabar Ali al-Luaibi, sat on meetings with oil companies operating in Iraq and asked them to increase oil output and exports rates of crude oil and natural gas, Iraq News reported.

Iraq, OPEC’s second-largest producer after Saudi Arabia, depends on oil sales for 95% of its public spending. Baghdad appears set to continue boosting production, which currently stands at around 4.6mb/d.

Members of OPEC are due to meet informally in Algeria on the sidelines of the International Energy Forum (IEF). Russia is also expected to attend the IEF, with speculations that OPEC and Russia will discuss a possible production freeze to ease declining global prices for crude.