American giant ExxonMobil has confirmed to MEES that “ExxonMobil Iraq Limited (EMIL) reached an agreement with Pertamina to sell 10% of EMIL’s interest in West Qurna I [WQ-1].” This would double the Indonesian state firm’s WQ-1 stake to 20%: the prior stakes in the 470,000 b/d capacity field were Exxon 32.7%, Chinese state firm CNPC 32.7%, Japan’s Itochu 19.6%, Pertamina 10% and Iraq state Oil Exploration Co. 5%.
Exxon has been seeking to quit the field (and Iraq entirely) since January 2021, but Baghdad blocked its planned sale to Chinese firms (MEES, 7 May 2021) prompting Exxon to file for arbitration (MEES, 30 July 2021). (CONTINUED - 296 WORDS)
