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Analysis: Ending the ExxonMobil Presence at West Qurna 1

By Ahmed Mousa Jiyad.

Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News.

Ending ExxonMobil Presence in WQ1 Oilfield

Legal-Contractual Discussion with Economic-Financial Analysis

Information indicates that the Iraqi Ministry of Oil (MoO) proposed to acquire (buy) ExxonMobil‘s participation interest (PI) in the West Qurna 1 (WQ1) oilfield for $300 million, and that the final decision depends on the formation and approval of the new government.

The proposal revives the divergent positions that prevailed within MoO when discussing a similar situation in 2018 relating to the same oilfield.

Click here to download the full report in pdf format.

Mr Jiyad is an independent development consultant, scholar and Associate with the former Centre for Global Energy Studies (CGES), London. He was formerly a senior economist with the Iraq National Oil Company and Iraq’s Ministry of Oil, Chief Expert for the Council of Ministers, Director at the Ministry of Trade, and International Specialist with UN organizations in Uganda, Sudan and Jordan. He is now based in Norway (Email: mou-jiya(at)online.no, Skype ID: Ahmed Mousa Jiyad). Read more of Mr Jiyad’s biography here.

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Pertamina to Increase Holding in West Qurna 1

By John Lee.

Pertamina, the Indonesian state-owned energy company, will reportedly buy an additional 10 percent stake in the West Qurna 1 oilfield from ExxonMobil.

The Deputy Director-General of the Basra Oil Company (BOC), Hassan Muhammad Hassan, told the official Iraqi News Agency (INA) that the agrreement, “is subject to the signing of the settlement agreement with the Basra Oil Company.“

Pertamina previously had a 10 percent holding.

The Iraqi cabinet had previously agreed to allow BOC to take over ExxonMobil‘s holding in the field, at a price of “up to $350 million.”

(Source: INA)

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China to Buy of Exxon’s stake in West Qurna?

By John Lee.

The China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) are reportedly considering acquiring Exxon Mobil‘s remaining stake in Iraq’s West Qurna 1 oilfield.

According to sources cited by Bloomberg, the stake could fetch more than $500 million.

ExxonMobil originally had a 60% stake in the field, but sold 25% to PetroChina and 10% to Pertamina in November 2013. (Shell originally had a 15% stake, but sold it to CIECO West Qurna Limited, a subsidiary of Japan’s Itochu Corporation, in 2018 for $406 million.)

Itochu’s website lists the current interests as: ExxonMobil (US (Lead Contractor), 32.7%; Petrochina (China) 32.7%; Itochu (Japan) 19.6%; Pertamina (Indonesia) 10.0%; Oil Exploration Company (Iraqi state-owned company) 5.0%.

More here.

(Source: Bloomberg)

The post China to Buy of Exxon’s stake in West Qurna? first appeared on Iraq Business News.

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Iraq to Increase Production at West Qurna 1

By John Lee.

Oil production is to increase at the West Qurna 1 oilfield, according to Reuters.

The news agency quoted Basra Oil Company (BOC) chief Ihsan Abdul Jabbar as saying on Wednesday that output will rise from 440,000 barrels of crude oil per day (bpd) to 490,000 bpd in the “next few days”.

The field is being developed by ExxonMobil (25%), PetroChina (25%), Itochu (15%), Pertamina (10%), Iraq’s state-owned Oil Exploration Company (25%)

(Source: Reuters)