British energy giant BP said on Tuesday it had ended its involvement in Iraq's giant Kirkuk oilfields and would now step away from the six-year venture.

"In 2013, BP signed a letter of intent with the North Oil Company of the Iraq Ministry of Oil to support field activity studies in Kirkuk," the London-listed company said.

"As planned, in December 2019 BP completed field work, studies and recommendations."

BP had signed an agreement with state-run North Oil Company (NOC) in 2018 to at least double output from the Kirkuk fields.

David Fyfe, chief economist at Argus Media, said the announcement suggested an appraisal of the site last year "came in below expectations".

That appeared to have left BP "unable or unwilling to agree a development plan with NOC," he told AFP.

Recent political unrest within Iraq, the flare-up of tensions between Iran and the United States and local bureaucracy had likely contributed to the decision, the analyst added.

"They may not be the last foreign company to consider scaling back their exposure to Iraq while these factors persist," Fyfe said.

BP began working at the string of major oil fields in Kirkuk in 2013 but a year later Iraqi Kurds took over the site during the chaos of the Islamic State group's rampage across the country.

They had been exporting the oil to Turkey through their own pipeline but were dislodged by Iraqi forces in 2018 after the Kurds had voted for independence in a controversial referendum opposed by Baghdad.

BP, which has a history of producing and exporting oil in Iraq dating back to the 1920s, remains active elsewhere in the country.

It is working in partnership with a local company and Chinese energy giant PetroChina at the huge Rumaila oilfield near the border with Kuwait.

jbo/jj/phz/bp

BP

PETROCHINA

Related Links
All About Oil and Gas News at OilGasDaily.com

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

Seoul to send vessel to Strait of Hormuz after US pressure
Seoul (AFP) Jan 21, 2020
South Korea will send a naval destroyer and 300 troops to the Strait of Hormuz, its defence ministry said Tuesday, after pressure from its ally the US in the face of tensions between Washington and Tehran. Iran has been blamed for a series of attacks on shipping vessels in the strait, a strategic choke point for the world's oil trade where the US has deployed a naval mission. But the request put Seoul in a dilemma: it has had diplomatic relations with Tehran since the early 1960s and until last ... read more