ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - British energy giant, British Petroleum (BP), will start working on the development of Kirkuk province’s oil and gas fields, the governor said on Tuesday.
“BP is coming to Kirkuk and will start their work. It will be very good for our city, good for our youth, good for the infrastructure of our oil and gas in this city. With the arrival of BP, the infrastructure will be completely changed and give momentum to the city, and at the same time our oil production will improve, our gas production will improve,” Rebwar Taha told Rudaw.
“A new door will open in Kirkuk for the development of its economic foundation,” Taha added.
The Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani is in London. He met with his British counterpart Keir Starmer on Tuesday.
The Iraqi oil ministry and BP signed a “comprehensive” memorandum of understanding (MoU) in July to rehabilitate several state-owned oil and gas fields in Kirkuk province.
The fields are operated by the state-run North Oil Company (NOC). The NOC is one of the 16 companies comprising the Iraqi oil ministry with its headquarters in Kirkuk.
BP has been working in Kirkuk’s oil fields since the Iraqi federal government’s return to power in Kirkuk in October 2017. Previously, Kurdish Peshmerga forces were in control of the oil fields in Kirkuk, following the collapse of the Iraqi army in 2014 during the fight against the Islamic State (ISIS).
Oil exports through the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline have been halted since March 2023 after a Paris-based arbitration court ruled in favor of Baghdad and against Ankara, saying the latter had breached a 1973 pipeline agreement by allowing Erbil to begin independent oil exports in 2014.
The pipeline goes through the Kurdistan Region.
Before the halt, around 400,000 barrels per day were being exported by Erbil, in addition to some 75,000 barrels of Kirkuk’s oil.
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) on Sunday accused the federal government of violating constitutional provisions by attempting to unilaterally sell oil and gas resources in the disputed territories.
“The Iraqi government is preparing to unilaterally take the oil and gas from these areas, while the Kurdish people are asking for the legitimate rights of these areas within the framework of Article 140,” read a statement early Monday.
Article 140 outlines steps to resolve disputes over areas claimed by both the federal and regional governments, including the oil-rich Kirkuk province. Successive Iraqi administrations have failed to fully implement the article.
