Iraq’s crude oil output has increased by approximately 300,000 barrels a day following the engagement of several foreign oil companies in the redevelopment of the country’s biggest oil fields, a senior Iraqi oil official said, according to The Wall Street Journal. Iraq’s output has risen to 2.7 million barrels a day and is expected to reach some 3 million barrels per day by the end of the year, according to Abdul Mahdy al-Ameedi, who heads the country’s Petroleum Contracts and Licensing Directorate.