Iraq signs MoU with BP to redevelop Kirkuk oil fields
Shafaq News/ Iraq signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with BP, the integrated oil and gas company, to develop the four Kirkuk oil fields, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani's media office announced on Wednesday.
The MoU was signed in London on Tuesday evening to “assess the feasibility of a comprehensive redevelopment program for four oil fields in Kirkuk,” according to the media office statement. “The signing ceremony was attended by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Oil Hayan Abdul Ghani Al-Sawad. The MoU was signed on behalf of Iraq by the Director General of North Oil Company, Amer Khalil Ahmed, and on behalf of BP by the company’s Iraq Branch Manager, Zaid Al-Yasiri.”
The statement added, "The MoU aims to assign the project for rehabilitating and developing the four oil fields operated by the North Oil Company in Kirkuk to BP. The objective is to enhance production and achieve optimal targeted rates of oil and gas output.”
Notably, the Kirkuk oil field is the oldest in Iraq and the second-largest in the world by production capacity. It is the fifth-largest globally, with oil reserves exceeding 10 billion barrels of high-quality crude.
The Iraqi Ministry of Oil recently announced plans to develop the fields by enhancing technical, economic, and contractual aspects, while confirming ongoing negotiations with BP to operate the four North Oil Company fields in Kirkuk—Bai Hassan, Kirkuk, Jambour, and Khabbaz—to boost production and support the government’s plan to utilize associated gas for electricity generation.
