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Shell agrees to sell Iraqi oilfield stake to Itochu

Royal Dutch Shell has agreed to sell its stake in Iraq’s West Qurna 1 oilfield to Japan’s Itochu, a Shell spokesman was reported to have said.


Royal Dutch Shell has agreed to sell its stake in Iraq’s West Qurna 1 oilfield to Japan’s Itochu, a Shell spokesman was reported to have said.

“Itochu and Shell have reached agreement on the sale of Shell’s interest in the West Qurna 1 oilfield and are now working to secure all the necessary approvals from the government of Iraq,” Reuters quoted a spokesman on Monday. “Details of the discussions are commercially confidential.”

Iraq has approved the sale by Shell of its 20 percent stake in the West Qurna 1 oilfield to Itochu, according to a senior Iraqi oil official, Reuters reported earlier.

The deal comes as the Anglo-Dutch company agreed to exit the Majnoon oil venture, one of the largest fields in OPEC member Iraq, and hand over its operation to the state-run Basra Oil Co. (BOC) by the end of June 2018.

The West Qurna 1 oilfield, operated by Exxon Mobile, currently produces around 405,000 barrels per day.

Source: Pipeline ME