U.S. energy giant Exxon Mobil Corp. is set to sell a 25% stake in its West Qurna-1 oil field in Iraq to PetroChina Co., according to the Iraqi government.
U.S.
energy giant Exxon Mobil Corp. is set to sell a 25% stake in its West Qurna-1
oil field in
Iraq
to
PetroChina Co., according to the Iraqi government.
A statement released by Iraq's deputy prime minister for energy early Thursday
said Exxon and PetroChina will sign a final deal over the stake sale later in
the day. The West Qurna-1 field is located near
Basra
in
southern
Iraq
. It
is one of several big fields that Western oil majors agreed to help
Iraq
develop in 2010.
After selling the 25% stake, Exxon will retain 35% of the field, and continue
as its operator. The remaining stake is owned by Royal Dutch Shell PLC and
Iraq
's
state-owned South Oil Co. A spokesperson for Exxon wasn't immediately available
to comment early Thursday.
Earlier this year, Exxon gave
Baghdad
formal notice that it wanted to sell less than half of its stake in the field
to PetroChina. The decision came after tension between Exxon and
Baghdad
over
Exxon's decision in 2011 to help the semi-autonomous region of
Kurdistan
explore and develop its own oil wealth.
Baghdad
has
warned Exxon to choose between its deal in the south and the one in
Kurdistan
,
though more recently
Iraq
has
ratcheted down the rhetoric over its
Kurdistan
project.
The West Qurna-1 field has the potential to produce nearly three million
barrels of crude a day, by some estimates, rivaling some of the world's largest
fields. Exxon and Shell are spearheading the $50 billion project, which
currently produces 510,000 barrels a day.
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