BP, Exxon Mobil evacuate most staff from Iraq – Oil Ministry Official

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) ExxonMobil has executed a “major evacuation,” and BP has withdrawn 20% of its staff, the head of SOMO, Iraq’s state-run South Oil Company said Wednesday.

Dhiya Jaffar also said ENI, Schlumberger, Weatherford and Baker Hughes had no plans to evacuate staff from Iraq following the swift advance of al-Qaeda aligned insurgents of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, ISIL. The companies, which are based in southern Iraq where the government is still in firm control, were not immediately available for comment.

“This message is not satisfactory for us. We are not convinced the work should not be done remotely. They should be here on the ground,” said Dhiya Jaffar.

“I assure the companies that the current developments in the country have not affected and will not affect in anyway the operations in the south,” he said, adding that the export level for June will be 2.7 million barrels per day.