SULAIMANI (ESTA) — The Iraqi oil ministry said on Thursday it is in talks with U.S. oil companies over a possible purchase of ExxonMobile shares in the southern West Qurna 1 oilfield.
It did not say which companies were interested in buying the shares, and provides no further details.
ExxonMobile operates the 500,000 b/d capacity West Qurna 1 oilfield, in the southern Basra province, with a 32.7 pc stake, according to Argus media.
ExxonMobil is the lead contractor in a long-term deal with Iraq’s South Oil Company to develop and rehabilitate the oilfield to increase its output.
The sale of its West Qurna 1 stake would come as blow to Iraq’s oil sector, which has struggled to attract and retain large internationally oil firms in recent years as a result commercially unattractive contractual terms and payment difficulties.
Iraq is the second largest oil exporter in OPEC and has long-term aims to boost output curtailed by decades of war and sanctions.
