(Bloomberg) -- Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani said he’s meeting with dozens of American companies as part of a push for more investment in the gas sector.

“My government is serious about investment in gas and to be an active and powerful player in the gas market,” Al-Sudani said Wednesday in an interview with Bloomberg Television in New York. 

Al-Sudani, who met with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken while in New York, said Blinken extended an invitation for him to visit the White House. The prime minister said he hoped to do so by the end of the year.

He said he met with American companies working in Kurdistan that want to move into the rest of Iraq and planned to met representatives from 31 more on Thursday. Al-Sudani said his government is also looking to complete agreements with Emirati and Chinese companies, though he declined to provide specifics.

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Iraq is trying to reduce its dependence on Iran for gas, an arrangement that has become more onerous because heavy US sanctions on Iran make payment difficult. It’s also spending billions of dollars to ramp up its own gas output to avoid supply disruptions. 

Al-Sudani said Iraq, OPEC’s second largest-oil producer, wants to keep oil prices steady to “ensure the interests of producers and consumers,” and he envisions an oil price of no less than $85 to $95.

“Iraq is committed to the voluntary goal that we have agreed upon within OPEC,” he said.

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