ExxonMobil to quit West Qurna-1 services agreement
US supermajor shuns south in favour of Kurdistan contracts
ExxonMobil is poised to walk away from its technical services agreement for southern Iraq’s West Qurna-1 oilfield. Well-placed sources familiar with the US supermajor’s Iraq operations told Petroleum Economist that the US supermajor was preparing to focus its efforts on upstream projects in Kurdistan instead. A source said an exit could be announced as early as this month, although it is understood that the company’s departure from Iraq’s south could take six months to a year. “The decision has been taken. It has been communicated to the Iraqi oil ministry,” said the source. It is understood that ExxonMobil and Shell, its partner in the West Qurna-1 technical service agreement, had a meeting
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