By John Lee.
Japan’s Itochu has reportedly bought Shell‘s 20 percent stake in the West Qurna 1 oilfield.
Ihsan Abdul Jabbar, the head of state-run Basra Oil Company (BOC), told Reuters that the oil ministry discussed the required financial investments and operations at the field with Itochu, and approved the deal.
West Qurna 1, operated by ExxonMobil, currently produces around 405,000 barrels of crude oil per day.
The deal comes as Shell is also preparing to exit the Majnoon oilfield, handing it over to the BOC by the end of June 2018.
(Source: Reuters)