Iran and Iraq share common position regarding OPEC, Iranian minister says

DUBAI, Dec 27 (Reuters) - Iranian oil minister Javad Owji on Wednesday thanked Iraqi officials for cutting oil output, saying the two countries had a common position regarding both OPEC and the wider OPEC+ grouping which includes allies such as Russia.

The minister's comments came as he signed a number of preliminary agreements with his Iraqi counterpart in Tehran, state media reported.

"Iran and Iraq have a common position regarding OPEC and OPEC+. We thank the Iraqi officials for the voluntary cuts they implemented to improve (oil) prices. We have had negotiations about future issues related to OPEC and OPEC+," Owji said without giving any further details.

Iraq has said it will begin voluntarily cutting its oil output by 220,000 barrels per day (bpd) from the start of January to the end of March as part of a wider voluntary agreement by some of the OPEC+ group.

The agreements signed in Tehran on Wednesday include memoranda of understanding (MoU) to develop shared oil and gas fields, particularly Sindbad in Iraq and Khorramshahr in Iran, Iran's Borna news agency said without giving further details.

Owji said he was hopeful that the development of shared fields would begin soon.

"We reached acceptable agreements on the renovation of Iraqi refineries by Iranian experts and a committee to follow up on this issue has been created," Owji added.

Reporting by Elwely Elwelly and Ahmed Rasheed; Editing by Kirsten Donovan