BAGHDAD – Iraq's oil ministry is raising its estimate for the country's proven oil reserves to 150 billion barrels, up nearly 5 percent from a 2010 estimate of 143 billion barrels.



Oil Ministry spokesman Assem Jihad said the higher figures are the result of increased work in the oil sector over the past two years.



Jihad, quoted by The Associated Press, said the estimate does not include the self-ruled Kurdish region.



Kurdish officials claim their region contains 45 billion barrels, although the figure cannot be confirmed independently.



Iraq is OPEC's second largest oil producer after Saudi Arabia.



Oil revenues make up nearly 95 percent of the country's budget.



In a recent Reuters interview, former BP boss Tony Hayward said he expects a breakthrough soon for his new charge Genel Energy in the impasse over Iraqi Kurdistan oil exports and is adjusting to life at the helm of a smaller but more responsive company.  A keen sailor who raised hackles during the 2010 Gulf of Mexico spill when photographed on a boat as oil continued to spew into the sea, Hayward invoked his hobby to describe the difference between his old and new jobs. Leading BP was similar to being the captain of a supertanker, he said. – Agencies