"Iraq is planning to increase production to three million barrels a day (mbd), up from 2.5 million," Iraqi Minister of Oil Abdel Karim Al-Loaybi has told jounalists in Cairo.

The minister, who participated in the Organisation of Arab Exporting Countries (OAPEC) meeting that ended Saturday, said that Iraq will expand production to 12 mbd in 6-7 years. His predecessor, Hussein Sheherestany, hoped to rehabilitate the oil sector in four years.

Al-Loaybi told Reuters that $100 a barrel was a fair price for oil.