Inpex To Sell Eridu Stake To Lukoil

24 Nov 2023 Issue: 66 / 47 By: Yesar Al-Maleki

Japan’s Inpex has been given the greenlight by Baghdad to sell its 40% stake in the Eridu project on Block 10. In yet another boon for Lukoil’s ambitions in Iraq, the Russian firm is poised to purchase the stake.

Inpex has received Iraq’s okay to divest its investment in the Eridu field development on Block 10 in southern Iraq (see map, MEES, 24 November). The Japanese firm has been pushing for the exit for over a year (MEES, 9 November 2022), and MEES understands it has now reached an understanding to sell its 40% stake to partner and Eridu operator Lukoil, taking the Russian firm’s stake to 100% once the deal completes.

Inpex “received [oil ministry] approval to sell the stake, and Lukoil showed interest in buying it,” one source explains. The source adds that the two firms’ have reached an understanding on the sale, but this will have to pass the oil ministry’s legal directorate before final sign-off by Minister Hayan Abdulghani. (CONTINUED - 828 WORDS)