BP signs Iraq MoU on developing Kirkuk

KIRKUK, August 1, 2024 – BP has signed an MoU with the government of Iraq to develop oil and gas, power generation and solar projects in the Kirkuk region, the energy giant said on Thursday.

Under the nonbinding agreement, the parties would negotiate a material integrated redevelopment programme for the region.

Oil and gas investment could involve the Baba and Avanah domes and three adjacent fields: Bai Hassan, Jambur and Khabbaz, operated by Iraq’s North Oil Company. Activities could include rehabilitation of existing facilities and the construction of new facilities, together with a drilling programme at the Kirkuk fields.

The programme “has the potential to stabilise production and reverse decline, returning production from this nationally important oilfield to a growth path,” BP said.

BP also plans to explore investing in power generation projects and introducing solar facilities to the region.

Thursday’s deal was signed between Iraqi Prime Minister H.E. Mohammed Shia’ Al Sudani, Deputy Prime Minister for Energy Affairs and Minister of Oil H.E. Hayan Abdul Ghani and BP CEO Murray Auchincloss, along with BP regional president for the Middle East and North Africa Nader Zaki and BP president for Iraq Zaid Elyaseri.

Negotiations between the parties are slated to wrap up by early 2025.

BP has a history in Iraq stretching back to the 1920s. Today its operations are focused on working in partnership with PetroChina and Basra Oil Company to develop Rumaila, the ‎second-largest producing field in the world, estimated to have around 17 billion barrels of ‎recoverable oil remaining.‎

Photo courtesy of North Oil Company.

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