Darraji made the remarks during a meeting with Jordanian Minister of Public Works and Housing Yahia Al-Kasbi and leading businessmen in the construction sector.
"In a reconstruction blueprint unprecedented in the Arab area, the Iraqi government has allocated 40 billion dollars this year out of its $112-billion budget for development projects in the spheres of infrastructure, electricity, education and health,” the Iraqi minister said.
”Given their expertise and reputation, Jordanian and other Arab contracting firms can have a tangible role in the Iraqi reconstruction process,” he added.
He defended the security situation in Iraq which so far hindered Jordanian business presence in the neighboring country, saying investments in the reconstruction activity would be guaranteed by the Iraqi government.
Media reports have quoted Oil Minister Abdul Kareem Al-Luaibi as saying that Iraq will boost output capacity this year to 3.4 million barrels a day and export capacity to 2.6 million barrels.
Exports will benefit from a new offshore loading facility in the Gulf that will go into service on Jan. 25, he said at a news conference in Baghdad. Iraq discovered an oil field called Al-Deema 400 km south of the capital in Al-Amarah province, Al-Luaibi said.
The field contains “high reserves” of light crude, and workers are drilling wells to determine its size, he said.
Iraq holds the world’s fifth-largest crude deposits that also include Canadian oil sands, according to data from BP. Production is rising after stagnating for years due to wars, economic sanctions and a lack of investment.
Output jumped in December to more than 3 million barrels a day, the highest level for at least 20 years, and exports rose last month to 2.2 million barrels a day, Hussain Al-Shahristani, the deputy prime minister for energy affairs, said on Dec. 22.
The first of four single-point mooring facilities planned off Iraq’s southern coast will begin operating next week, Luaibi said. Each of them will add 850,000 barrels a day in capacity for exports of crude.
The second mooring unit will be in place within six months, the third by the end of 2012 and the fourth in 2013, Al-Shahristani said.
The government has granted 15 oil and gas licenses since the 2003 invasion that ousted former President Saddam Hussein.
The Oil Ministry plans a new round of licenses for oil and natural-gas exploration on April 11-12.
