Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi held a meeting on Tuesday with US Energy Secretary Rick Perry, who is currently visiting Baghdad, during which the two sides addressed bilateral cooperation in the oil sector, among others, the prime minister's press service said.
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th December, 2018) Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi held a meeting on Tuesday with US Energy Secretary Rick Perry, who is currently visiting Baghdad, during which the two sides addressed bilateral cooperation in the oil sector, among others, the prime minister's press service said."The prime minister reaffirmed during the meeting ... the need to expand cooperation in energy, oil industry and economy," the press service said via Telegram.
Perry, in turn, reaffirmed the United States' commitment to assist in Iraq's development in general and support the country's oil sector.
"The US secretary, in turn, reaffirmed his country's support for the Iraqi government in all sectors, in strengthening stability and restoring Iraq, developing [Iraq's] economy, and [reaffirmed the United States'] willingness to support and help expand the electric-power industry and oil sectors [in Iraq]," the press service said.
The meeting between Mahdi and Perry was also attended by the Iraqi oil and electricity ministers along with a number of other officials and advisers.
According to the press service, the US energy secretary was accompanied by at least 50 businesspeople and officials.
As of 2017, Iraq was the US fifth largest importer of petroleum products after Venezuela, Mexico, Saudi Arabia and Canada, accounting for 600,000 barrels per day, according to the US Energy Information Administration.
