ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – British Petroleum has reportedly pulled out of a massive oilfield in Iraq’s disputed province of Kirkuk after the expiration of its exploration contract in the field without reaching a deal to expand it.
Kirkuk has one of the oldest and most extensive oilfields in the Middle East, estimated to have nine billion barrels of recoverable oil as well as substantial gas reserves. The province is one of the disputed territories claimed by both the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the Federal Government of Iraq.
The head of the state-run North Oil Company, Farid al-Jadir, said in late 2018 that a BP team was then operating in the oil-rich province to prepare a study and review plans to boost crude output by the end of 2019.
On Tuesday, Reuters quoted informed sources as saying that BP had informed Iraqi plans last month it was withdrawing its staff in the north of the country after its 2013 service contract expired at the end of 2019.
“The results of its field study for Kirkuk oilfield development have been handed over to the North Oil Company and unfortunately it was below expectations…at least for us,” Reuters quoted an official as saying.
“It’s very obvious study results were not encouraging for BP to extend its operations,” the official added. According to the agency, Iraq was hoping to triple production from the Kirkuk oilfields, reaching close to a million barrels per day, which is about one-fifth of current output levels.
This comes as several Western energy companies are reportedly reconsidering their operations in Iraq amid continued political unrest in light of anti-government protests that have been ongoing for months and US and Iran tensions.
Iraq, OPEC’s second-largest oil producer following Saudi Arabia, almost entirely relies on oil to generate its revenue. Over the past few years, the country has faced budget deficits due to the market’s unstable oil prices.
Editing by Karzan Sulaivany