PetroChina to hold largest stake in Iraq field after Exxon leaves

Iraq has signed an agreement with the American energy giant ExxonMobil on the corporation’s withdrawal from the project to develop Iraq’s West Qurna-1 field. Exxon’s place will be taken by PetroChina, which will become one of the main shareholders of the project, said Hassan Mohammed, deputy head of the Iraqi oil and gas state company Basra Oil.

Basra Oil also bought part of Exxon’s 22.7% stake. Another 20% of the project is owned by the Indonesian Pertamina. After this deal to sell its stake, Exxon has no projects left in Iraq.

The West Qurna 1 field, located in southern Iraq, is one of the world’s largest oil fields with recoverable reserves of more than 20 billion barrels. Currently, about 560,000 barrels per day are produced here. The presence of Chinese investment will allow the latest technology to be successfully transferred to this field.