Iraq

ExxonMobil's departure leaves BP and Shell as the last international oil companies in Iraq.

Baker Hughes will build a modular fast-track natural gas liquids processing plant in southern Iraq to capture associated gas for power generation and to reduce flaring.

French operator will assist country with enhanced oil recovery, natural gas gathering, and solar projects.

Iraq’s oil minister Ihsan Abdul Jabbar said the country’s state-owned Basra Oil Co. is the likely candidate to buy ExxonMobil’s operator stake in the giant West Qurna-1 oil field.

With Chevron out of the picture, Iraq may turn to China to buy ExxonMobil’s 32.7% stake in West Qurna-1, or it may buy some or all of the stake itself to meet an end of June deadline to complete the sale.

Iraq, which is second only to Russia in terms of gas flaring, is nearing an agreement with Total to implement dual-energy megaprojects to capture that gas and wean the country away from sanctioned Iranian gas and electricity imports. Solar power will play a major role.

Schlumberger has won a $480-million contract to drill 96 oil wells in southern Iraq for the country’s Basra Oil Company and for ExxonMobil, which operates the giant West Qurna-1 field with partners from Iraq, Japan, Indonesia, and China. West Qurna-1 is one of the world’s largest oil fields.

A rocket hit a small oil refinery in northern Iraq on 29 November, causing a fire at a fuel storage tank and forcing a complete shutdown of operations after the blaze spread to a nearby pipeline network, two refinery officials said.

DNO announced that it has brought its gas capture and injection program online in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. Already reaching the milestone of 1 Bcf of gas injected, the project is expected to reduce annual emissions from the company’s production by more than 300,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent.

The 18-month contract is for work in the Al-Nasiriyah oil field in southern Iraq’s Dhi Qar province.