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Iraq’s new non-binding deal with the US oil giant ExxonMobil aims to develop its largest oilfield near Basra, the OPEC member’s oil minister told the official Iraqi News Agency.
Hayan Abdul Ghani said, “This is one of the most important agreements we have signed with ExxonMobil to develop the Majnoon oilfield.”
The heads of agreement with Basra Oil and Iraq's state oil company SOMO also include projects to build oil storage facilities for Iraq outside the Gulf to expand the OPEC member's export outlets and achieve better financial gains, he added.
Last month, SOMO announced that it had reached advanced stages of understanding with ExxonMobil to secure enhanced storage capacity in Singapore, alongside negotiations on refining and profit-sharing opportunities in the Asian market.
Director General Ali Nizar Al-Shatri said the company is also exploring refining capacity and joint trading of crude oil and petroleum products.
Last year, ExxonMobil quit the West Al-Qurna oilfield and handed it over to PetroChina due to pure economic reasons, though the ministry tried to persuade it to cancel the plan.
(Writing by N Saeed; Editing by Anoop Menon)
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