Iraq, BP sign MoU to rehabilitate four oilfields in Kirkuk

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - An Iraqi delegation on Wednesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with British energy giant BP to redevelop four oilfields in Kirkuk province.

“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,” read a statement from Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani’s office.

The deal was made during Sudani’s official visit to London, and was signed by Oil Minister Hayyan Abdul Ghani and BP’s Iraq branch head Zaid Elyaseri.

The Iraqi oil ministry and BP signed a “comprehensive” memorandum of understanding (MoU) in July to rehabilitate several state-owned oil and gas fields in Kirkuk province.

The fields are operated by the state-run North Oil Company - one of the 16 companies comprising the Iraqi oil ministry - with its headquarters in Kirkuk.

BP has been working in Kirkuk’s oil fields since the Iraqi federal government’s return to power in Kirkuk in October 2017. Previously, Kurdish Peshmerga forces were in control of the oil fields in Kirkuk, following the collapse of the Iraqi army in 2014 during the fight against the Islamic State (ISIS).

Oil exports through the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline have been halted since March 2023 after a Paris-based arbitration court ruled in favor of Baghdad and against Ankara, saying the latter had breached a 1973 pipeline agreement by allowing Erbil to begin independent oil exports in 2014.

The pipeline goes through the Kurdistan Region.

Before the halt, around 400,000 barrels per day were being exported by Erbil, in addition to some 75,000 barrels of Kirkuk’s oil.