PetroChina takes over West Qurna 1 operations from ExxonMobil
West Qurna 1 oil field. Photo: Middle East Online
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – A deputy oil minister revealed on Monday that ExxonMobil has legally left the West Qurna 1 oilfield in southern Iraq and turned over its operations to PetroChina as the principal contractor.
Senior Iraqi oil officials met with representatives from ExxonMobil, PetroChina, and Basra Oil Company (BOC) on Monday in Basra to mark ExxonMobil’s exit and the handover of its operations to PetroChina, according to Reuters.
A senior Iraqi official in the oil sector revealed in November that ExxonMobil signed a settlement deal allowing PetroChina to take over as the primary contractor of the oilfield.
The Deputy Director of BOC, Hassan Mohammed, told Reuters last November that the Iraqi Oil Ministry and BOC see that PetroChina is the best choice to be the primary contractor of the West Qurna 1 oilfield after evaluating the settlement deal.
After ExxonMobil leaves the field, PetroChina will own the biggest share.
According to Mohammed, Iraq has also inked a sale agreement that would handle the finances to complete the acquisition of ExxonMobil’s share in the West Qurna 1 oilfield by BOC.
The agreement includes an assurance to finalize the tax ExxonMobil should pay for selling its share in the oilfield through future negotiations.
The BOC Deputy Director explained that there are two alternatives if the tax problem is not resolved: either reach a settlement or the matter will go to arbitration.
Pertamina, Indonesia’s state-owned oil and gas company, acquired 10 percent of ExxonMobil’s share last year, bringing its total ownership to 20 percent, and BOC purchased 22.7 percent of the oilfield.
With 43 billion barrels of recoverable reserves, the West Qurna field is one of the biggest oil fields in the world.
The Iraqi government authorized the sale of ExxonMobil’s share in the oilfield to BOC in 2022 for $350 million.