Shafaq News / The Iraqi Ministry of Oil announced that it will hold a round of talks with American companies specialized in the field of oil, to sell Exxon Mobil's stake in West Qurna field 1.

Iraqi Minister of oil, Ihsan Abdul-Jabbar, said in a statement, "The ministry started its discussions with major American companies to choose one that would get the right to buy Exxon Mobil's share in West Qurna 1 field."

ExxonMobil had signed, in January 2010, an agreement with the South Oil Company, one of the companies of the Iraqi Oil Ministry, to improve and develop the West Qurna-1 field in southern Iraq.

The field's proven reserves amount to 8.7 billion barrels, and West Qurna is one of the rewarding fields that the largest Western oil companies are looking forward to amid the declining production.