IRNA - Iraqi Oil Minister Jabbar Allaibi said on Sunday his country plans to reach an agreement with Iran on exploitation of the joint oil fields.

He made the remarks during his speech at the Iraq Energy Forum 2017.

The official said Baghdad is in serious talks with Tehran on joint use of oil fields in the two country’s borders.

He called for improvement of relations with neighboring countries to diversify the country’s oil and gas revenues.

Iraqi oil minister noted that Iraq is in talks with Kuwait to resolve border problems and export gas to this country.

The official underlined promotion of ties with Jordan, Egypt, European countries and the US.

“15 billion barrels of oil will be added to Iraq’s oil reserves next year and this country, by having 178 billion barrels of oil reserves, will be ranked second in the world after Saudi Arabia,” he added.

Allaibi said Iraq’s oil export is expected to reach 5 million b/pd by the end of 2017.

The two-day Iraq Energy Forum kicked off on Sunday for the third time with the presence of OPEC secretary and Iraqi high-ranking officials.