Iraq's Oil Minister Jabar Ali al-Luaibi appointed a new deputy for upstream operations on June 1 as part of an overhaul meant to bolster the OPEC member's ability to boost crude output capacity, a ministry spokesman said.

Kareem Hattab, who will oversee E&P, previously served as director-general of the state-owned Iraqi Oil Exploration Co., the spokesman, Asim Jihad, told Reuters.

The position has been vacant since late 2016 when al-Luaibi decided to reshuffle the ministry's top officials.