Officially, Chevron is negotiating with Baghdad to fill the void left by Lukoil in the West Qurna 2 oil field.
On Monday, the Minister of Oil discussed the development of the oil sector with the American company Chevron, while an informed source revealed that the negotiations were for the company to take over the West Qurna 2 field instead of the Russian company.
The Ministry of Oil said in a statement received by Shafaq News Agency that “Deputy Prime Minister for Energy Affairs and Minister of Oil, Hayyan Abdul Ghani, received a delegation from the American company Chevron.”
She added, “During the meeting, topics related to the development of the gas and oil sectors were discussed.”
For its part, an informed source revealed to Shafaq News Agency that “the meeting witnessed negotiations between the ministry and the company, for the latter to take over the West Qurna 2 field instead of the Russian Lukoil.”
Last Monday, the Iraqi Ministry of Oil invited several American oil companies to enter into negotiations regarding control of the West Qurna-2 field, and to seek to transfer the operation of the field to one of the companies through competitive bids .
It is worth noting that the Russian company Lukoil declared force majeure at the West Qurna-2 field on November 19th, after its operations were disrupted due to Western sanctions imposed on it, as it sent an official letter to the Iraqi Ministry of Oil stating that there were force majeure circumstances preventing it from continuing operations .
The West Qurna 2 field is one of the huge oil fields in southern Iraq. It was discovered in 1973, and its operating agreement includes the Russian company Lukoil with a 75% stake and the Iraqi South Oil Company. The field forms a key pillar of the Iraqi economy through its contribution to increasing oil production.
Reuters revealed last week that ExxonMobil had contacted the Iraqi Oil Ministry to express its interest in buying the majority stake held by Russia’s Lukoil in the giant West Qurna-2 oil field.
Shafaq.com