Iraqi oil minister says BP and Lukoil mulling exits

Iraqis swim in the port of Al-Maaqil in the southern city of Basra, the heartland of the country’s southern oil industry. (AFP)

• Minister appeared before parliamentary committee last week

RIYADH: Iraqi Oil Minister Ihsan Abdul-Jabbar said that BP is considering withdrawing from the giant Rumaila field and that Russia’s Lukoil company had indicated it wanted to sell its share in the West Qurna-2 field, Asharq Business reported.
In a video clip broadcast on Facebook, the minister said: “The investment environment in Iraq is not suitable for maintaining large investors. All investors are either looking for another market, or they are looking for another partner.”
He added: “The investment environment in Iraq is not sufficiently encouraging for a large oil company to do business there. As an investment environment, we are not suitable for major partners.”
Abdul-Jabbar said that ExxonMobil wanted to sell its stake in the West Qurna 1 field for no more than $400 million, a price he described as “very cheap.”
He said that the state-controlled Basra Oil was considering a deal, Asharq Business reported.