Iraq signs agreement with BP to increase Kirkuk oil production

Iraq on Thursday signed an agreement with British oil firm BP to increase production in the disputed, oil-rich province of Kirkuk.

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – Iraq on Thursday signed an agreement with British oil firm BP to increase production in the disputed, oil-rich province of Kirkuk, a source from the Iraqi North Oil Company (NOC) told Kurdistan 24.

Iraqi Oil Minister Jabar al-Luaibi on Thursday morning arrived in Kirkuk for a meeting with BP officials to finalize a deal and begin studying ways of boosting capacity at the fields, a source from the NOC, speaking on condition of anonymity, said.

“Under the agreement, BP will perform surveys and studies necessary to develop Kirkuk’s fields and boost their output to as much as 750,000 barrels per day,” head of BP’s Middle East business Michael Townshend said, according to an Iraqi oil ministry statement.

Production and sales of crude oil in Kirkuk have halted since Iraqi forces and Iranian-backed Shia Hashd al-Shaabi militias’ military takeover of the disputed area last October.

The province was under the protection of Kurdish Peshmerga forces following the emergence of the Islamic State (IS) in 2014 and the collapse of the Iraqi army.

The attack—which caused a significant reduction of Kurdish oil exports—was Baghdad’s response to the Kurdistan Region’s Sep. 25 independence referendum.

“North Oil must restore its glory and its output averages to 1.5 million barrels a day,” Luaibi said at the signing ceremony. “We have an ambitious plan to activate the company.”

Iraq also recently signed a deal with Iran to deliver crude oil via tanker trucks until the construction of a pipeline from Kirkuk to the border area of Kermanshah.

Kirkuk is one of the largest oilfields in the Middle East, estimated to contain around nine billion barrels of recoverable oil.