Al-Shahristani's comments followed market speculation that Iraq might have to officially slash its longstanding production capacity target. Analysts are skeptical that Iraq can reach the goal within its six-year time frame, or that the market would want or need that much production from the OPEC member.

"There is no intention at all to renegotiate the contracts," Al-Shahristani told Reuters at the launch of a power plant project outside the city of Kerbala.

"We are contracted for announced production capacity of around 12 million barrels per day," he said. "But how much we will produce, really, this depends on the international market situation and the market demand."

Iraq signed a series of deals with international oil companies to restore its dilapidated oilfields and ramp up capacity to give it the money it needs to rebuild after years of dictatorship, war and international economic sanctions.

It hopes to build capacity to 12 million bpd within about six years, which would vault it into the upper echelon of global producers.

Iraq currently has no OPEC output quota.

Al-Shahristani also said the Oil Ministry had reached a final draft contract on a long-delayed $12-billion project to capture associated gas at southern oil fields and had sent the deal to Iraq's Cabinet for approval.

A senior oil official had said two weeks ago that legal hurdles were delaying the deal with Royal Dutch Shell and Mitsubishi to capture some of the 700 million cubic feet of natural gas that Iraq flares at its oil fields every day.

"This issue (final draft contract) now is presented to the cabinet," Al-Shahristani said. "After the Cabinet decides, the contract will be signed."

The Shell deal, which Iraq needs badly to fuel electricity generation, was first agreed in 2008 but suffered a series of setbacks.

Deputy Oil Minister Ahmed Al-Shamma said on April 25 that the lack of a modern hydrocarbons law was holding up the deal. The transfer of ownership of oil and gas facilities to the joint venture, and export of produced gas were among the sticking points.

The deal would see Shell capture flared gas at oil fields near Iraq's southern oil hub of Basra, including at Rumaila, Iraq's workhorse.

In the interview, Al-Shahristani, a former oil minister, also said he was not concerned with the recent slump in world oil prices and OPEC did not intend to reconsider its production targets at its meeting in June.

"These issues are expected, ups and downs in prices. The oil prices are still at acceptable and reasonable levels in our view. There is no intention really, now, to reconsider (OPEC) target levels or to take any extraordinary measures" when OPEC meets in June, he said.