https://www.iraq-businessnews.com/2021/04/29/the-demise-of-exxonmobil-in-the-iraqi-petroleum-sector/
Surprise surprise, you dont see this stuff on the home page, rather some poor people pictures for malaria or whatever that BS PR is, probably a lie as well.
EXCLUSIVE Iraq formally asks to buy $350 mln Exxon oilfield share
Reuters
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/exclusive-iraq-formally-asks-buy-350-mln-exxon-oilfield-share-2021-05-10/
Iraq has formally asked to buy U.S. energy giant ExxonMobil's (XOM.N) share in one of Iraq's biggest oilfields, West Qurna 1, the head of the state-run oil operating company said on Monday.
Iraq said last month that Exxon was seeking to sell its 32.7% stake in West Qurna 1, and that the oil ministry had started discussions over a possible purchase. read more
"A decision has been made and we sent a formal letter to ExxonMobil asking to buy its share," Basra Oil Company director Khalid Hamza told Reuters in an interview, adding the oil and finance ministries will follow up with procedures to secure the finance.
He said Exxon was seeking to sell the share for $350 million.
The formal request to buy the share has not been previously reported.
Its sale marks a shift for Exxon, which in 2019 had looked poised to move ahead with a $53 billion project to boost Iraq's oil output.
Hamza said the Basra Oil Company would, after acquiring the stake, coordinate with the other partners operating the field to ensure operations continue smoothly.
The other foreign shareholders in West Qurna 1 are Petrochina (601857.SS) with a 32.7% stake, Japan's Itochu Corp (8001.T) with 19.6% and Indonesia's Pertamina with 10%.
The Iraq state-run Oil Exploration Company holds the remaining 5%.
For Iraq, OPEC's second-largest producer, oil revenue represents at least 95% of its income.
It has been hit by the collapse in demand and oil prices last year, caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
But the market recovering and, in response, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allied producers have agreed to raise output slightly from May 1. read more
Hamza said Iraq has approved the 2021 investment budgets presented by international oil companies for development of southern Basra oilfields managed by BOC, estimated at around $7 billion.
To generate more revenue, Iraq plans to increase light production by 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) to reach 1.1 million bpd, he said.
He added that oil exports for May had so far averaged 2.85 million barrels per day, down from 2.9 million bpd in April.
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Mistake for EM to ever enter Iraq. Cut losses and get out ASAP. Not going to end well for whoever stays. U.S. will no longer protect people or assets. On your own. No place to sink billions. Risk premium too low.
Exxon Puts Iraq Field Up for Sale With Debt Mountain Looming
By Khalid Al Ansary and Kevin Crowley
April 15, 2021, 11:16 AM CDT
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-04-15/exxon-puts-iraq-field-up-for-sale-with-debt-mountain-looming
Exxon Mobil Corp. is considering selling its stake in Iraq’s West Qurna-1 oil field in a sign that the supermajor is willing to part with one its marquee oil fields in the Middle East to reduce the mountain of debt accumulated last year.
Iraq’s oil ministry took the unusual step of saying it’s in talks with U.S. companies about the possibility of them buying Exxon’s 32.7% stake in the field in southern Iraq, near the city of Basra. China’s oil giants China National Petroleum Corp. and CNOOC Ltd. were considering buying the stake, Bloomberg News reported last year.
Exxon declined to comment on any potential sale.
West Qurna-1 was considered one of the oil industry’s glittering prizes in the reconstruction of Iraq following the Second Gulf War, with Exxon becoming lead contractor in 2010. But tough contractual terms, payment delays, OPEC production cuts and political instability have dulled its appeal in recent years. Meanwhile, Covid-19 had a crushing impact on Exxon’s finances, causing its debt to balloon to more than $70 billion and prompting two downgrades in less than a year from Moody’s Investors Service.
Asset sales are a key part of Exxon’s strategy to reduce that debt, as well as defend its $15 billion-a-year dividend. Those goals are within easier reach now that Brent crude has rebounded to more than $66 a barrel, up 29% this year. Exxon’s stake in West Qurna-1 could fetch at least $500 million, Bloomberg reported in November, citing people familiar with the matter.
While the Iraqi field is one of the world’s biggest, with expected recovery reserves of more than 20 billion barrels, ongoing investment is needed to bring those barrels to market. In particular, its future production capacity may be dependent on a major water-injection project that has encountered multiple delays.
Exxon has slashed its annual capital spending by some $10 billion a year all the way out to 2025, saying it will focus on its core projects in Guyana and the Permian Basin. That may have pushed West Qurna-1 down the pecking order for the limited capital the company now has available for new developments.
The remaining owners of the field are PetroChina with a 32.7% stake, Japan’s Itochu Corp. with 19.6% and PT Pertamina with 10%.
ExxonMobil Set To Exit Federal Iraq
23 Apr 2021
Issue: 64 / 16
By:
Yesar Al-Maleki
https://www.mees.com/2021/4/23/oil-gas/exxonmobil-set-to-exit-federal-iraq/c86d7c20-a42a-11eb-a0ba-018bcfd77e7d
A decade after securing the giant West Qurna-1 field, US major ExxonMobil is heading for the exit. The sale to Chinese firms is symbolic of Iraq's shifting upstream landscape.
ExxonMobil’s plans to sell its stake at Iraq’s 470,000 b/d West Qurna-1 (WQ-1) are now official. The countdown is on and Exxon looks set to become the latest IOC to quit federal Iraq by the end of June. Exxon operates WQ-1 with 32.7%, partnered by CNPC with 32.7%, Itochu 19.6%, Pertamina 10%, and Iraq state Oil Exploration Co. 5%.
Tight contractual terms, security concerns, inadequate midstream infrastructure and repeated calls from the cash-strapped central government to minimize investment have contrived to rob Iraq’s upstream of the luster it held a decade ago. (CONTINUED - 1051 WORDS)
There was likely a significant amount of capital spent. You need to get production up at a fast rate to recover capital. These are great reservoirs so if everything falls into place with politics, logistics, and supply chain money can be made.
We didn’t lose anything, it was a 100% reimbursable contract +$2 for every bbl produced, no matter the price of oil.
How much did we spend and lose on this one? For a while we were staffing it with a bunch of people who knew someone. There was a guy I knew who had retired and was working it from his retirement home in the northeastern US. Collecting a pension and being paid as a contractor. This while we were aggressively PIPing people in about 2016.