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Reuters
BAGHDAD
Iraq would support a decision by OPEC to freeze oil output to prop up prices, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al Abadi told a news conference in Baghdad on Tuesday.
"We are with freezing production at the OPEC meeting," he said, in the clearest indication yet about the position Iraq will support when the oil exporters' group meets next month.
Members of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries are due to meet informally in Algeria on the sidelines of the International Energy Forum (IEF) on September 26-28.
OPEC's second-largest producer, after Saudi Arabia, Iraq has previously sent contradictory signals about its position.
Oil Minister Jabar al-Luaibi last week said Iraq plans to play"a very active role" with other OPEC members to support prices while at the same time expanding its own output, which now stands at about 4.6 million barrels per day.
Iraq funds 95 percent of its budget through oil sales. Its economy is reeling under the double impact of lower crude prices and the cost of fighting Islamic State, the militant group that overran swathes of its territory two years ago
Meanwhile, oil prices fell more than 1 percent on Tuesday as the dollar strengthened and investors worried about crude oversupply, bracing for an expected weekly build in US stockpiles as Iran said it was on target to reach peak production.
Warnings of a tropical storm system developing around the oil-and-gas hub in the US Gulf of Mexico limited some of the downside in crude prices, as energy companies announced some production suspensions there.
Brent crude futures were down 78 cents, or 1.6 percent, at $48.48 per barrel by 12:39 p.m. EDT (1639 GMT).
US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell 50 cents, or 1 percent, to $46.48.
On Monday, crude also fell more than 1 percent as the dollar rallied and concerns about an oil glut grew.
"Today is just another economic story that's fed the dollar's strength and with the weekly build expected in US crude, prices are getting a double whammy," said Tariq Zahir, a trader in WTI timespreads at Tyche Capital Advisors in New York.
"Yes, we have storm concerns but they are not really affecting production as much as the market bulls would like."
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, hit session peaks after the US Consumer Expectations Index rose to October highs.
A stronger greenback tends to make dollar-denominated commodities such as oil costlier for holders of other currencies.
