2023-11-11T17:24:10+00:00
A-
A
A+
/ The Iraqi Ministry of Oil announced, on Saturday, the signing of a settlement agreement with the American energy giant “ExxonMobil” to put the final touches on its exit from the West Qurna 1 oil field, while it was announced that the Chinese company “Petrogene” would be allowed to be the main operator of the field. .
Assistant Director of the Basra Oil Company for Oil Field Affairs and Licensing Rounds, Hassan Muhammad, said that the settlement agreement was studied by the Ministry of Oil and the Basra Oil Company, and it was concluded that the best option is for “Petrogene” to become the main operator of the West Qurna 1 field, according to what was reported. Reported by Reuters.
Accordingly, “Etrogene” will own the largest share in the field after the departure of “ExxonMobil”, which owned a 22.7% stake in the giant West Qurna 1 oil field in Iraq, which has a capacity of 550 thousand barrels per day.
The Iraqi official said that a “sale agreement” was also signed regulating financial matters to complete the acquisition of ExxonMobil’s share in the West Qurna 1 oil field by the state-run Basra Oil Company.
He also revealed that the sale agreement includes a commitment to resolve the issue of the value of the tax that ExxonMobil must pay in exchange for selling its share in the field during additional talks.
Regarding the “tax issue,” he explained that it has not yet been resolved, “and based on the sales agreement, there are two options: either reaching a settlement agreement on the tax or resorting to arbitration.”
It is noteworthy that last year, the state-owned Indonesian company, Pertamina, bought 10% of ExxonMobil’s share in the Iraqi West Qurna 1 oil field, raising its share to 20%, while Basra Oil Company bought 22.7% of the share. field.
After ExxonMobil’s exit from West Qurna 1, the company will no longer have any presence in the Iraqi energy sector, according to officials at the Basra Oil Company.