Iraq

Authored by Cyril Widdershoven via OilPrice.com,

Authored by Irina Slav via OilPrice.com,

Iraq has plans to boost its crude oil production by 600,000 bpd to 5 million bpd by the end of this year, regardless of its participation in OPEC’s production cut deal. Iraq is the cartel’s second-biggest exporter of crude and has been the most disinclined of all parties to the agreement since its inception, with a lot of observers expecting it to be the first one to cheat.

President Trump’s senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner reportedly arrived in Baghdad this morning, in a surprise visit with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs General Joseph Dunford, to meet U.S. and Iraqi officials and to receive military briefings on the fight against the Islamic State.  Kushner is the first member of Trump’s inner circle to visit the country, currently engaged in a fight to drive the militant group from Mosul and other areas.

The Trump administration has stopped disclosing material information about the size and nature of the U.S. commitment to military action in Iraq and Syria, including the number of U.S. troops deployed in either country, in a bid to "surprise" the Islamic State with the number of US troops in the region the LA Times reports.

Two days after the US military confirmed that a coalition airstrike may have killed as many as 240 civilians in a March 17 Mosul air raid, the Pentagon found an unexpected defender when the Iraqi military said on Sunday a blast that killed scores of civilians in western Mosul was triggered by an Islamic State booby trap, contradicting local officials and residents who claimed a U.S.-led coalition airstrike caused the deaths.

An Iraqi man inspected damage on Sunday in the Mosul al-Jadeeda neighborhood of the northern city, Mosul